18th December, 2009
After a 21 hour journey and a few tearful goodbyes at the airport I finally arrived at Seenigama Sports centre, one of the Laureus supported projects. I spent 2 weeks as a tourist here last Christmas and loved the place so was very keen to come back and get to know the country better. Having been inspired by one of my fellow foundation team members to volunteer over the xmas holidays I asked a Seenigama representative (Quen) who visited our offices in March, whether they took volunteers. On being told that they did I jumped at the chance to make the most of my xmas break.
The project has a whole host of sports on offer and despite the exceptionally high standard almost everyone and anyone is welcome to join in. Following on from the recent Beefy visit there is a real Laureus buzz in the air and it’s actually quite moving to see the pride which the kids take in wearing their Laureus t shirts.
A newly formed cricket team Seenigama Ladies have turned women’s cricket on its head within just four months of their existence.The Seenigama Ladies havemade it to the final of the B division championship by beating three teams, Shakthi Ladies (Colombo), Kandy Ladies and Cambridge Ladies from Anuradhapura.
They have been formed under the care of the Foundation of Goodness, a humanitarian organisation headed by former Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Kushil Gunasekera and backed by Australia Sports Outreach Programme and Surrey County Cricket Club with support from the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.
The project aims to involve both girls and boys, aged from 6 to 20, in ongoing sports competitions at village level. An estimated 800 participants can take part in the project through various inter-village sports leagues, with matches and training sessions taking place once a week. Sport is used as the means to tackle a wide range of social issues generating a positive impact on the region as a whole by building leadership and teamwork skills, introducing stability and a sense of enjoyment, increasing confidence and participation of females in community planning, increasing collaboration and information sharing amongst the villages involved and enabling the post-Tsunami healing process to continue.
Congratulations to the kids and all those involved in the under 12 and under 14 volleyball teams from the Seenigama Sri Wimala Buddhi and Thotagamuwa schools in Sri Lanka. They have reached the finals of the all island volleyball tournament.
Kushil Gunasekera, Founder and Trustee of the Foundation of Goodness wrote to our Projects Manager, Emmanuel Madonda, to inform us of this success.
Dear Emmanuel
I thought of sharing some significant & successful news, the credit of which must necessarily go to Laureus for their unwavering support and commitment towards the sports development projects managed by the Foundation of Goodness where the Seenigama Sri Wimala Buddhi school and the neighbouring Thotagamuwa school have entered the all island under 14 and under 12 schools final respectively.
As you are aware both schools have been assigned specialized coaching with the funding received by Laureus Read more
