The girls counted out loud through exercise sets in Hebrew, Arabic in English
While most teams in the Twinned Basketball Clubs (TBC) program won’t start Twinning (AKA joint activities) until later in the fall, two teams have already started getting into the swing of things with joint fitness trainings on the beach in Herzliya. The two teams, which include teenage girls from the Jewish town of Holon and the Arab town of Fureidis, are new to PPI and consequently new to each other. Last week’s twinning was the first of what will be weekly fitness trainings throughout the month of September. Starting in October, activities will revert to the standard TBC format, whereby the two teams will practice twice a week in their own communities and come together for Twinnings twice each month. Fitness trainings are led by trainer Alon Levy, who last year led joint fitness trainings for the Jerusalem All-Stars and Elitzur Holon, so he knows all about working things out by working out.
Last week’s joint training was the first time that most girls had met “the other side”
The first training session was held in a friendly casual manner, letting the girls settle into the idea of working out with girls from the other side of the Arab-Jewish divide, which isn’t exactly a usual occurrence in Israel. Out loud, the girls counted their ways through exercise sets in unison, alternating between Hebrew, Arabic and English.
The next training session will take more of a direct Twinning approach, with more of a focus on working together, playing beach volleyball on mixed teams and other muscle- and team-building games. While the two teams are new to PPI – ME, these two communities have already been involved in the TBC in some capacity. Holon has been cooperating with PPI – ME for the past two years, and since last year has had an official team in the TBC. This year, Holon is sending another two teams to the TBC, including the girls in this post. Fureidis has been a guest of honor at many of our special events, including tournaments, but only this year became a full-fledged TBC member, with two new teams also participating.
