Congratulations to Lachinta, Asanka, Suranga and Thushara! (pictured above from left to right)

These four young village men have just travelled outside of Sri Lanka for the first time, for the purpose of their sport and with the pride of representing their country. It is with great pleasure that we announce the return of four of our talented volleyball players from the Seenigama Sports Club, who recently travelled to the UK's Channel Islands to participate in Jersey's annual Beach Volleyball Tournament. What's more, the four players returned home to Sri Lanka as champions of the tournament!

Asanka Kumarawadu, Thushar Dedimuni, Suranga Dadallage, and Lachinta Ponaduwa were invited by the charity, Jersey Side by Side, who sponsored the players flights to Jersey and covered their expenses whilst travelling in the UK. The trip came about following Suzi Austin's visit to Sri Lanka earlier this year where she volunteered for our Foundation for three months. Suzi was so impressed by the standard of volleyball playing in Seenigama that she was determined to enable some of the village players to travel to Jersey and compete.

The players visited Jersey for one week, during which time they were honorary guests at Jersey's Lieutenant Governor's residence. In fact, the Governor and his wife were so impressed by their propriety that they even cheered on our team during their tournament. The Jersey Beach Volleyball Tournament itself was held over the weekend of 22nd and 23rd July 2006. An annual competition, the tournament this year comprised 13 teams from Jersey, Guernsey, England and, of course, Sri Lanka. The Seenigama Sports Club played ten matches over two days and on the final day, they met Jersey's best team. Initially, our Seenigama team was down on points but they pulled through to win the tournament. This was an incredible sporting feat particularly as the youngest in the team, 19 year old Suranga, had suspected chicken pox. However, to the admiration of all the players involved he refused to sit on the sidelines and played beyond his best abillity to help his team win.

The players' week in Jersey Island was packed with events and tours. Other than playing beach volleyball, one of the main highlights of the trip was their visit to the Jersey Lieutenant Governor's residence. Here the boys were treated like royalty - they were honorary guests at the Governor's house where he held a reception for them with drinks and canapés in the beautiful gardens of his residence. During the reception the four gifted a spectacular batik made in Seenigama to Mike Wavell of Jersey Side By Side depicting the two charities' logos either side of Seenigama's Devol temple. In addition, the four toured around the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and La Ferme (a Jersey Cow farm) plus spent time with their friends, Suzi and Anthony, enjoying their fantastic hospitality.

During the week the Sri Lanka team attracted a lot of attention as they toured around the island. They were interviewed by BBC Jersey and the UK's ITV television channel in which they appeared on the news in Jersey. The TV crew followed them around Jersey and covered them as they played in the Beach Volleyball Tournament. After the Tournament the players were flattered with a centre page spread in the Jersey's Evening Post newspaper celebrating the win of the 'Sri Lankan heroes'.

For our village players to win the competition, despite injuries, illnesses and unfamiliar soft sand, was an incredible achievement and they were rightfully offered a huge heroes' welcome when they returned home to Seenigama with crowds of incredibly proud families, friends and Foundation staff meeting them at Galle Road. On Saturday 29th July, a felicitation was held for them in Aviva Village. The under-15 years and under-17 years Seenigama volleyball teams plus the Foundation staff were there to salute them and congratulate them, whilst our Founder, Kushil, gave them a great tribute for their sporting prowess. The trip not only proved how talented our players are, it has also given the younger players in the village role models and inspiration. Their success demonstrates that hard work and practice have the potential to bring about fantastic opportunities and open doors to the rest of the world. We must give credit to the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation which has opened up opportunities to our young village sportspersons to no end through funding regular sporting competitions via the Seenigama Sports programme. It is through such regular matches that the villagers can improve their games and their confidence to excel in their sporting field.

The Foundation of Goodness boasts an extremely close relationship with Jersey, in particular Jersey Side by Side, and through our contacts, we have become excellent ambassadors for Sri Lanka in Jersey. Our volleyball champions did us, and Sri Lanka, proud and we hope that they are invited to return to Jersey next year. Through the success of this recent trip, they have shown how genuine and trustworthy Sri Lankan nationals can assist in further strengthening cross-cultural relationships whilst pursuing their passions.

This trip would not have been possible without the generosity of our friends in Jersey and we offer our humble gratitude to Mike Wavell and all at Jersey Side By Side who funded the whole tour. The money was kindly donated through sponsorship from the Guiton Group, three private sponsors and the Seymour Group, who provided discounted accommodation to the boys at Jersey's Merton Hotel - we thank them all for providing such a unique opportunity for our volleyball team to compete in an international competition. We offer particular thanks to Suzi Austin and Anthony Lewis who played such an integral part in getting the team to Jersey for the beach volleyball competition. Suzi did so much to make the trip possible, her tireless efforts to get the trip organised were outstanding and the hospitality she and Anthony gave the boys in Jersey was amazingly generous - they took the boys to see many famous attractions on the island and organised dinners and outings for them each day. It is rare to come across such kindness and they made the players' trip to Jersey a dream come true.

Our sincere appreciation must also be extended to Faye Ruck-Nightingale, who is kindly managing the Seenigama Sports programme in the capacity of a volunteer, and who was instrumental in obtaining visa permits for the four boys to enter the UK. The application process was a long and arduous one, in which Faye displayed patience, professionalism and generosity in ensuring that these players were able to grasp this incredible opportunity and live out their dreams.

Following the players' beach volleyball tournament and Kushil's earlier trip to Jersey, our links in Jersey, particularly with Jersey Side By Side, have been further strengthened. We salute this incredible UK charity and very much look forward to our continuing relationship with them and our involvement in future events and activities.