Netball Australia partners with the Foundation of Goodness

The Foundation of Goodness had the privilege to work with Netball Australia to deliver a two phase training programme for 120 individuals from across the island between 15th and 24th September, 2016.

The first part of the programme took place in the south from 15th – 17th September, at the Seenigama Sports Academy where 5 netball coaches from the south and 5 netball coaches from the north came together for an intensive training programme conducted by Josie Janz-Dawson, an Australian national netball league player for the West Coast Fever, and Olivia Philpott, International Development Manager for Netball Australia. These sessions also included discussions about the latest methods and techniques used in training as well as a leadership programme conducted by the National Peace Council.

The group dispersed at the end of the 4 day training session for the coaches and regrouped in the north four days later, this time accompanied by the netball teams trained by those same coaches along with each school’s master-in-charge accompanying the teams, a total of 120 individuals from these 10 teams from the north and south came together for a very exciting three day programme that not only helped the kids learn new skills, develop their talents and excel at their chosen sport, but to also get to know each other and overcome their differences while also gaining motivation and inspiration.

The teams who participated in the programme are:

The training also included a full day leadership programme conducted once more by the National Peace Council and included a lecture by Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala, the first Sri Lankan to ever summit Mt. Everest, which encouraged the children to overcome glass ceilings and personal limitations to persevere, and achieve their dreams.

On the third day of the programme, all the teams were mixed and the new teams played together, building new bonds & discovering new strengths and the girls were delighted by an unexpected visit by FoG Trustee and legendary Sri Lankan cricketer Mahela Jayawardena. On the fourth day, the original teams were reunited and they tested their skills against each other where Saraswathi Vidyalayam from Jaffna became the ultimate champions by beating out the Foundation of Goodness Netball Academy 15-10 in the Finals.

Our heartfelt thanks goes to Netball Australia who sponsored this whole programme and to Olivia and Stephanie who did an incredible job training both the girls and the coaches both in the south and north. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for 120 students and teachers to learn new and superior skills & training methods, meet a wide variety of teams from around the country and make new friendships and for the kids from the south, it was also an opportunity to visit the north of the country, combining training with reconciliation.

06th October 2016