Like in so many sports, volleyball too has a great feeder to the national stream in Davisamara Maha Vidyalaya, Seeduwa. The rapid development is such that Volleyball and Davisamara have turned into a single component that walked hand in hand during the past decade and are on the path of success to each other.

Lakshman Wijeratne (Principal)

Though volleyball has highlighted Davisamara MV's image to the pinnacle in school sports the institution and the sport are in comparison has a huge disparity in the making. Davisamara MV was established in the 1850s by a parish catholic priest who had the namesake. It was situated next to a church closer to Seeduwa until the late 1980s moved to its present location after the takeover by the government.

"At the beginning there had been just 200 students but the school gradually developed in popularity in the area for its academic successes. Presently there are 1052 students and 55 teachers on board from grade six to G. C. E. advance level in all streams," explained Lakshman Wijeratne, the principal.

With just over 1000 students in both genders Davisamara MV's only pride is their status in volleyball. Each year the volleyball players of Davisamara MV sweep almost all the trophies on offer in the Sri Lankan school sports arena. Though the history of the school runs closer to 160 years, volleyball was introduced first in 1997 under the keen guidance of Chaminda Lakshan, who does an all-round job as a coach, master-in-charge and motivator.

"I, with the support of Mr. Jeyaraj Fernandopulle inaugurated volleyball 14 years ago in a very small scale. During the first couple of years the school did not even have a basic playing court or any sort of thing that could attract the youngsters into the sport. But fortunately volleyball was quite well received in the area and it prompted the youngsters to take up the sport. The popularity of the sport has been ever growing since," Lakshan said.

As of July 2011, Davisamara MV has won closer to 60 championships in three age groups. They have remained as the undisputed champions for the past 11 years at the DSI Supersport Schools tournament which is conducted in a large scale annually and have won the Junior Nationals in addition to other tournaments of national level. The growth of volleyball would be a strange story of rags to riches for many but the school still remains as one of the poorest in the country.

Out of 1052 students where boys and girls share an exact half of population of the total around 60 are devotedly engaged in volleyball in all three age groups of under-14, 16 and 18. But strangely volleyball remains as the only delight of the students, staff members and parents of Davisamara MV. Netball, the local sport, Elle and cricket in the form of softball is being played by a few which makes up around 35 students but more to the surprise these sports have failed to go beyond their gates.

Davisamara has represented Netball and Elle at district level but has never been able to even reach among the best in the area for an obvious reason of not having a dedicated staff as in volleyball. But volleyball is being kept alive due to the dedication of a single man and an equally committed set of youngsters.

"Volleyball is our reputation in schools' sport. But as an underprivileged school we are not in a position to give all the facilities needed by the players. Moreover these boys come from poor families and sadly the parents too are not in a state to render their support apart from their humble blessings. Our boys are very brave to win two or three titles in four to five tournaments annually which is a great achievement from our point of view," Lakshan added.

Davisamara is situated on a land of four acres inclusive of an ample ground that could accommodate many sports. The school has a special volleyball court within the premises where the youngsters continue with their practices everyday. The ground could be developed into a fully fledged stadium but authorities do experience trouble in attracting supporters. According to Wijeratne the school is keen to introduce more sports to its activities but financially they are miles backwards.

So many ideas are being brought out by the school authorities to facilitate the students but implementation has been just a dream. But the students of Davisamara MV have produced very good results to improvise their standard in studies and discipline. The best students however change over to popular school in search of greener pasture while the average students remain at Davisamara. In addition the school has produced over 20 Sri Lankan players over the past decade which is a significant triumph.

Davisamara MV presently is on the verge of clinching their 12th successive DSI Supersport championship this year. They won three championships at the Western Province Championships of the tournament two weeks ago and their under-14, 16 and 18 boys entered the national tournament.
"Despite all these successes there are still major hindrances that pulls us back.

Apart from the monthly commitment by Jeyaraj Fernandopulle Foundation and a few well wishers we have to provide other facilities with great difficulties. The government has included this school into the list of 1000 schools that need to be developed and we hope this will bring us a change. All these poor students here know of the situation but with all the trouble volleyball is the only joy that is left to us at the moment," Wijeratne further elaborated.