It is the fifth edition of the championship which is one of the many initiatives taken by the 'Foundation of Goodness', founded by legendary cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan and his sports manager Kushil Gunasekera after the 2004 Tsunami that left over 30,000 people dead in Sri Lanka alone.
For five days across four venues in northern Sri Lanka towns of Jaffna, Oddusuddan (Mullativu), Mankulam and Kilinochchi, 16 teams in the boys' category and eight teams in the ladies' category will vie for honours.
Ever since it has made rapid progress and played a significant role in uplifting and supporting the rural communities through the spirit of cricket.
With legendary cricketers such as Kumar Sangakkara, Russell Arnold and Mahela Jayawardene as trustee members, the foundation is working for the benefit of over 35,000 people across 200 villages per year.
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The Foundation is empowering the rural youths by giving them training in various sectors including nutrition and wellbeing, education and child development, vocational training, infrastructure development and self-defense training for women and children.
"Sport has always been an integral part of this
Foundation. We have a holistic approach but it is for sports that we have been able to do that. There was help from others such as MCC and Surrey, who gave us a ground and now see we have a beautiful sporting facilities here," Gunasekera said.
"We have a few cricketers such as Tharindu Kaushal and Ramesh Mendis in men's cricket, a few ladies cricketers, net ball players who have come out of this Foundation and represented the country in tournaments. There are swimmers and table tennis players as well who have done well.
After creating a sustainable programme in the south, Muralitharan and Gunasekera are now trying to recreate the model in the recently liberated north. Following Muralitharan's retirement from international cricket in 2014, he was gifted a piece of land by the government which he donated to the Foundation.
The plan is now to set up a North Empowerment Project, consisting of a Learning & Empowerment Institute as well as a New School for both primary and secondary education. The project will also provide facilities and services to meet the needs of rural communities and help bridge the gap between these areas and the rest of the country.
Help also poured in for the Foundation from various quarters with celebrity cricketer Sir Ian Botham taking a 160 mile walk across Sri Lanka, five-time Olympic gold medalist American swimming sensation Missy Franklin making a splash at the Bryan Adams Swimming Pool Complex when she paid a visit as an ambassador for the Laureus Sports for Good Foundation (UK).