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September 23, 2022
Each year, the United Nations observes the International Day of Peace on September 21. In recognition, we recently spoke to Beyond Sport network member PeacePlayers United States about their work to use sport to build a global youth movement for peace and equity.
Founded in 2000, PeacePlayers International is globally recognized for uniting divided communities — leading with youth. Programs are seen as long-term investments, providing young people with the opportunity to grow into coaches and leaders in their communities. For nearly 20 years, the organization has been working with youth – over 143,000 since 2001 – around the globe using basketball to bridge divides, change perceptions and develop leaders. “We leverage the power of basketball as it has the power to be an effective catalyst for change, and if ‘you can play together, you can learn to live together.’
Through a sport-based curriculum, participants can gain the skills to mitigate conflict and grow as ambassadors for peace and equity in their communities. PeacePlayers believe that by elevating the voices of young people, we can get to the root of conflict, as “youth-led initiatives truly serve as the catalyst for systemic and cultural change.”
This year’s International Day of Peace theme of ‘End Racism. Build Peace’ closely aligns with PeacePlayers’ mission to unite racial, national and socioeconomic divides. “The United States has a long history of systemic racial inequality that perpetuates racial divides. America’s systematic inequality creates an unequal opportunity for youth and communal conflicts across racial, geographic and economic lines,” shared PeacePlayers US. “Young people will lead the charge to dismantle the decades-long plague of systematic racism and inequity that plague our country. Our work as an organization is to ensure more young leaders are prepared to lead in that effort.”
When asked how big a role they felt race plays in global conflicts, the organization stated: “Unfortunately, people find a wide range of reasons to separate themselves from one another. Around the world, those justifications manifest as race, religion, socio-economic status, geography, gender, age and politics, just to name a few. Race plays a deeper role in some contexts than others. Outside of the United States, race certainly plays a role but is often not perceived as the root of conflict, symbolic of the way in which racial “othering” may be embedded into a culture. However, PeacePlayers believes we need to see people as people first — no matter your race, gender, religion, religious beliefs, cultural heritage etc. — in order to build the foundational respect to begin to eliminate race based separation experienced by millions around the globe.”
PeacePlayers leverage basketball as a medium for peacebuilding because of the lessons it instills in their participants. “Basketball is a game where all five players need to share the ball. If it is played with great teamwork, the sum of the parts is greater than the individual. Basketball is a great forum for building trust. A lot of the game happens with things you cannot see; communication and trust with teammates are key. It seems to me that the same can be said for peace-making,” says PeacePlayers Board member, R.C. Buford.
The charity sees sport as a catalyst for the world’s peace-building efforts. They shared that it provides a medium where people can come together and draw life correlations in spaces where that would otherwise not happen. “It is through sport, where there’s an opportunity to have and navigate uncomfortable conversations, work towards dismantling systems of oppression and create space to lift the efforts of social change.” You can see that coming to life in the connections they are fostering:
- 88% of participants in South Africa made a friend from a different community through PeacePlayers
- 91% of participants in Northern Ireland said PeacePlayers gave them the opportunity to meet someone from a different religious background for the first time
- 96% of participants in the Middle East have developed cross-community friendships
- 91.5% of participants in Cyprus have met someone from the other side, compared to 42% in the control group
“PeacePlayers has been a big impact to me and my way of viewing the world. It changed my way of viewing the world by helping me understand how to make anything into an opportunity. [PeacePlayers] helped me learn more about peace and equity by making me part of an amazing community [that spreads throughout] the community,” said participant Gael.
PeacePlayers believes that its vision of creating a global network of sports based programs dedicated to making more impactful change through sport will only expand the sector’s collective understanding, strategies and impact. They have therefore created the global Sport and Peace Innovation Network (SPIN) to share the methods and resources that empower young people and help communities overcome cycles of conflict and alienation.
“SPIN is intended to bring a level of expertise and thoughtfulness to how sport is used and how to connect the benefits and learnings of sport to an issue like conflict or alienation. Many grassroots projects know the power of sport but have not had the many years of trial and error that PeacePlayers has endured.” SPIN aims to share learnings and best practices while also learning and sharing experiences with those who are on the front lines in communities.
This month, PeacePlayers introduced their Leadership Academy to support alumni in reaching their personal goals. Participants begin their journey with PeacePlayers at the age of eight, progressing through age 18. The academy intends to support and effect positive social change through the alumni’s careers as they assume leadership positions and engage with social activism.
It offers scholarships, mentorships, cultural exchanges, academic/professional certifications and training, fellowships, and internships. After a ten-year journey with PeacePlayers, the Leadership Academy serves as the next step for participants in their continued path towards advocacy and furthers the charity’s global movement of youth leaders to create a more peaceful world.
Along with the United States, PeacePlayers operates in Northern Ireland, the Middle East, South Africa and Cyprus. PeacePlayers US was one of our winners for the 2020 Sport for Reduced Racial Inequalities Collective Impact Award Supported by The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation.
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