By Adam Hirsch | Development and Communications Associate
2012 has been an exciting year for PeacePlayers International. In just the last year PPI has worked with more than 4,000 youth in our sites in Northern Ireland, the Middle East, Cyprus and South Africa. But the simple task of bringing children together to play basketball has not always been easy. With bombs dropping in Israel and Gaza, and riots on the streets of Belfast, PPI has had to rely on the strength of our local leadership and from our supporters around the world in order to continue to improve the lives of so many youth in these conflict torn communities. With these challenges behind us, PPI looks towards 2013 to be our most impactful year yet. As we get ready to make the transition, here are just a few highlights of PPI’s programming from the past year:
In the midst of the violence between Israel and Gaza, a group of Palestinian and Israeli PeacePlayers got together to prove that their friendships were not so easily threatened by the missiles raining down on either side of the border. In two events, one a basketball clinic led by former NBA greats Brian Scalabrine and Will Perdue and the other a golf clinic led by golf legends Amy Alcott,Hunter Mahan, Sean Foley and Michael Thompson, youth from East Jerusalem, West Jerusalem and Holon got to forget momentarily the recent trouble in the region. The events were made possible by PPI board member and top sports agent Arn Tellem and his wife Nancy, who hosted the events as part of a golf-inspired mission to Israel.
In November PPI-SA built a brand new basketball court for a school in Waterloo that will be used to teach hundreds of new children. Situated in a landscape of rolling hills north of Durban, Waterloo represents a brand new area for the PPI-SA program. When the new school year starts in January, Waterloo will be prepared to enter both a boys and girls team into the primary school league where the teams will have the opportunity to travel and host teams from other communities.
The Belfast Interface Games (BIG), organized by the Belfast Interface Project and PeacePlayers International, brought hundreds of children from all backgrounds and both sides of the sectarian divide together for a sports spectacular. Children had a chance to play soccer, Gaelic football and rugby with local sports legends. Brooklyn Nets Center, Brook Lopez, made the trip across the Atlantic to participate in the event. The event showcased the powerful potential of sport for community relations and peace-building work.
In July PPI-CY organized an overnight Bicommunal Basketball Summer Camp that brought 64 Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot boys and girls together for a week of sports and team building activities. PPI-CY had the privilege of hosting NBA Nets Assistant Coach, Doug Overton, his wife, and former WNBA player Shaunziski Gortman during the duration of the camp. The summer camp showed how real bridging of divides happens not just on the court, but also during meal times and evening activities. Doug Overton also held a coaches seminar for over 20 coaches from both sides during his stay to help in coaching techniques and practices of coaches for youth level basketball. Both the coaches seminar and our camp were widely covered in the media and on the main news program of one of the major TV channels.
Check out our daily blog, From the Field, to see the latest news and stories from PPI's programs around the world.
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