Tag Archives: Cross-Community League

by | July 11, 2012 · 1:03 pm

PPI-NI Ambassadors Represent

This summer PeacePlayers International-Northern Ireland (PPI-NI) introduced a new concept: the PPI-NI Ambassadors programme. This programme is for PeacePlayers participants aged 11+ who are going into or are already in high school. PPI-NI works mainly with primary school pupils, therefore when participants move to high school, their chances of staying involved with PeacePlayers is reduced. The thinking behind the ambassador programme is that the members would represent PPI-NI in their school and help to recruit high school pupils for our after-school events; Cross Community League, tournaments and summer camps.

Some of the PPI-NI ambassadors at this year’s Spring Jam tournament

Last week PPI-NI hosted the first ambassadors meeting in their Peace House office, with parents bringing their children from all sides of the city.  A total of 18 ambassadors attended the meeting last Friday, where the goal was to get everyone to know each other a little better, discuss the roles of an ambassador and the upcoming summer events. It was very apparent at the end of the meeting that the right ambassadors had been selected, they were all full of ideas and couldn’t wait to get started by promoting the Belfast Interface Games camps in their areas. Although there were only 18 attendees at the meeting, there are a total of 40 ambassadors in the Belfast area. The ambassadors range from 11 year olds who are just starting secondary school but have participated in PeacePlayers for 3 years to 17 year olds who have participated in PeacePlayers for 6 years and are moving towards being coaches. This range of ambassadors will provide a variety of views when we begin to plan events together, create fundraising events and review programme participation.

PPI-NI has great hopes for the ambassador programme and looks forward to the next meeting on Saturday September 8th.

Stay sweet to the Beat.

PPI-NI Ambassador Cheer

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Video

Antrim Cross-Community League

Last semester, you will recall that PPI-NI orchestrated it’s patented Cross-Community Basketball League (CCL) in Antrim between Rathenraw Youth Club, St. Comgall’s Youth Club, and Parkhall Youth Club for kids aged 14-17. It was the first time in a long time that there was collaboration and connection between various youth clubs in the town of Antrim. 20 pupils participated in the programme and were administered PPI-NI’s Open College Network Level I course “Diversity in Sport.” While it was only a 5 week programe, PPI-NI was extremely pleased, but not shocked, to hear that following the programme there was additional cooperation between the three Youth Clubs in various schemes and programmes but also the particiapnts from the three youth clubs would occasionally make plans to see each other socially, away from their Youth Clubs.

With this as a starting point, PPI-NI ran another CCL in Antrim. This time with children aged 9-13 from the three youth clubs in addition to a fourth one, Stiles Youth club, also from Antrim. For the past 5 Thursdays, 25-30 screaming kids would fill the halls of Parkhall Integrated Junior College’s school hall with the sound of bouncing basketballs, bank shots, and community-relations discussions and activities. It was such a success, that 15 members from Rathenraw Youth Club decided to make the 45 minute journey into Belfast on June 2nd to participate in PPI-NI’s year-end Spring Jam tournament. Sometimes, it’s amazing what can happen in just 5 weeks between kids who have never met one another.

Enjoy the video below highlighting some of the scenes from the past 5 weeks. Look out for the special “Jonah Dance!” as performed by Rathenraw’s own Jonah Crawford.

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by | June 12, 2012 · 5:34 pm
by | May 2, 2012 · 2:12 pm

PPI-NI’s Senior Girls Advanced Leadership Program at Greenhill

The Senior CCL girls complete Arbinger curriculum activities.

This past weekend, PeacePlayers International-Northern Ireland  (PPI-NI) brought together 11 girls aged 15-16 for an Advanced Leadership Program (ALP) residential at Greenhill YMCA, Co. Down. The majority of the girls came from our Senior Girls Cross-Community League (CCL) and a few from our partnership with the Young Enterprise Northern Ireland (YENI) program, for which we delivered our Level 1 accredited course in Understanding Diversity in Sport.

The weekend included activities such as a campfire!

Each of the participants were selected based on their outstanding participation and enthusiasm for PPI-NI programs. During the weekend, the girls participated in our Level II accredited course in Promoting Diversity through Sport, which is designed in an interactive format to show how we can transfer lessons on the court, off the court. Local Project Coordinator Joanne Fitzpatrick and Fellow Rory O’Neil had the honor of delivering the course. Also incorporated into the Level II is a section looking at the Arbinger Institute’s conflict resolution philosophies, which are used throughout PeacePlayers International’s global programs.

As well as participating in the course, the girls also had time to enjoy some team-building in a competitive game of Lazer Tag, and further developed relationships in their free time at the campfire, making smores and choreographing a dance routine!

Local Project Coordinator, Darryl Petticrew commented on the weekend:

“For me, the most important thing about our program is developing new relationships among the young people we work with. Having been part of PPI-NI for almost five years, hearing a group of young people say that they don’t want to go home, gives me the impression that the girls had a blast and that we are doing a good job!”

The video below will give you an insight into the weekend, and the amazing time we had together!

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by | April 18, 2012 · 1:47 pm

Bunscoil & Edenbrooke – Two Years On

Bunscoil and Edenbrooke at the Super Twinning 2011

Tuesday 17th April marked the final session between two classes that have been working together for two years! The classes, one from Bunscoil Bheann Mhadagain and the other from Edenbrooke Primary School, began working with each other in 2010 as a primary six class. Since then they have been involved in our Twinning programme as both primary sixes and sevens, participated in a Super Twinning and many have been to both our annual Spring Jam and Jingle Ball tournaments.

In our final session we discussed flags and symbols that exist in Northern Ireland. All pupils shared their own experiences and gave their opinions on what the flags and symbols represented to them! It was a great way to finish a twinning programme and both classes came away having learnt something new.

It has been a great journey with these classes, but it doesn’t end there as many of the students will stay with the PeacePlayers programme by participating in our after schools Cross Community League (CCL). This is where the children are put on integrated teams for a five-week period, play in a league setting and participate in community relations discussions. We are currently in week three of CCL Junior Girls, so stay tuned for more information!

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by | January 25, 2012 · 2:08 pm

Let the Twinnings Begin!

Students from Holy Cross Girls' and Wheatfield Primary Schools competed against students from Our Lady's and Victoria Park Primary Schools last spring. The students will reunite with their Twinning partners this term for the P7 Twinning.

Today’s Twinnings between Victoria Park and Our Lady’s Primary Schools this morning, and Holy Cross Girls’ and Wheatfield Primary Schools this afternoon, mark the first Twinnings of the term.  The P7 classes that will come together today worked together last autumn as P6 classes, and, coincidentally, competed against each other in the first annual Super Twinnings Tournament in June. The Victoria Park/Our Lady’s Twinning emerged the champion of the tournament, but all of the students are eager and excited to reunite with their cross-community teams.  In the first classroom session in each school, students from both Holy Cross Girls’ and Wheatfield shared that they’ve been keeping in touch with their teammates from the other school, even exchanging messages on Facebook in anticipation!

Students from Holy Cross Girls' and Wheatfield participated in team-building activities as P6 students in the Autumn of 2010.

In addition to the two Twinnings that begin today, PPI-NI will host five more Twinnings in Belfast, two in Lurgan, and two in Antrim – 18 primary schools in total! Twinning participants in North Belfast will also be invited to participate in the junior Cross-Community League, which will commence in March, as well as a Cross-Community league for Antrim participants.  The P7 Community Relations curriculum will revisit the topics of similarities and differences and will explore the topics of diversity; identity and symbols; stereotypes and prejudice; sectarianism and racism; and how sport can be promote diversity in a positive way. It will be a very busy term, but we’re all excited to get started!

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by | January 18, 2012 · 3:09 pm

PPI – Northern Ireland’s Top 10 of 2011

10 – A New Start

PPI-NI recently moved their office from a busy university area of Belfast to the busy Lisburn Road area. Like the New Year, this signifies a new beginning for PPI-NI, with a new staff team and lots of exciting ideas for the future, it seems like the new office has refreshed the organization.

9 – PPI-NI vs. Belfast City Council Wildcats

On a Tuesday evening, what better to do than play a friendly game of basketball with our good old City Council workers. A new dynamic to our relationship with Belfast City Council, gives us the opportunity to let our hair down, enjoy basketball and show off the skills of our VERY talented staff.

8 – Young Enterprise Northern Ireland (YENI) Partnership

Another exciting partnership established in 2011 was with YENI. A conversation between PPI-NI Managing Director, Gareth Harper and YENI Chief Executive Carol Fitzsimons, has resulted in a successful relationship between the two organizations.

7 – All Girls Cross Community League

For the first time in PPI-NI history, we ran an all girl Cross Community League (CCL) for our senior girls. Focusing on our girls aged 14-17 allowed CCL to impact 40 participants from the North Belfast area in a five-week programme. The programme was an unbelievable success and we now look forward to running our all boy CCL in February.

6 – Two New Schools!

Last term we started a new twinning with St. Kevin’s P.S (based in the Falls area of Belfast) and Glenwood P.S (Based in the Shankill area of Belfast).

5 – Game of Three Halves (GO3H)

This is another exciting initiative that PPI-NI has been involved with, and 2011 was the year it all started to take shape. Check out our previous blog entries for more information!

4- Super Twinnings!

An event where we bring together four schools from two separate Twinning’s, to play in a mini tournament and create a sense of identity amongst the Twinning partners.

3 – Breaking the 200 Mark at Jingle Ball 2011

This year was the first time in PPI-NI history that we had over 200 participants at our Jingle Ball tournament. A true testament to all the hard work that our staff put into the programme.

2 – Gifts from President and First Lady Obama

Receiving six Mac laptops from the President and First Lady as part of the Royal Charitable Gift Fund was amazing. This gift is a great help to Coordinators and International Fellows in the daily running of the programme.

1 – The Prince William and Catherine Middleton, Royal Charitable Gift Fund

To be a part of this fund is and honor and to be recognized for all the efforts that PPI-NI puts into its core mission is overwhelming. All staff, board members and friends off PPI-NI are very thankful for contributions like this one, that help develop and improve our programme.

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by | November 30, 2011 · 1:47 pm

Girls Senior CCL in Belfast

On Monday night, PPI-NI held the third session of its all-girls Senior Cross-Community League (CCL). The five-week evening program brings together high school-aged girls from North Belfast, including participants from St. Gemma’s High School, Little Flower Girls’ School, Belfast Model School for Girls, and Belfast Royal Academy,  as well as PPI-NI program veterans from Whiterock Community Centre. It is envisioned that the geographically-focused program will   lay the foundation for an integrated club based in North Belfast. Ideally, the same model will be replicated throughout the city of Belfast.

In addition to competing in two full-court basketball games, girls also participate in ‘community relations’ discussions and team-building activities. At the end of the program, a select group of girls who have shown exemplary leadership qualities will be invited to participate in an OCN-Level I residential seminar where they may earn a qualification in “Understanding Diversity in Sport”.

Click on this link (or the embedded video above) to watch some action-packed footage from Monday night – both on and off the court!

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by | September 7, 2011 · 12:34 pm

Training Local Coaches in Belfast

Darryl reviews the qualities necessary to be a good coach, which includes incorporating the lessons Arbinger into both basketball drills and community relations sessions.

Last week, PeacePlayers International – Northern Ireland held its first coaches’ training session of the fall term at Grosvenor Leisure Centre.  About a dozen local coaches were in attendance, many of who will be coaching for PPI-NI for the first time, along with a handful of veteran coaches. The session included an introduction to PeacePlayers, demonstrations of our most commonly used drills and games, and a brief explanation of the Arbinger philosophy and the “PPI Way” which provides the foundation of our peace-building curriculum.

Joanne explains "Hot Seat" (one of PPI-NI's favorite shooting games) to the local coaches.

With a busy autumn schedule upon us, we have a great demand for local coaches and facilitators.  We will begin our P6 twinnings in Belfast and Lurgan later this month, as well as a secondary school twinning and evening Cross-Community League in Antrim.  We will also be delivering our Open College Network (OCN) Level One Course in “Understanding Diversity Through Sport” to 576 participants in the Young Enterprise – Northern Ireland  (YENI) Knowledge Through Enterprise for Youth programme. Stay tuned for exciting updates throughout the autumn!

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by | July 20, 2011 · 1:58 pm

PPI-NI Rocks the Whiterock Summer Scheme

Rory O'Neil and Whiterock kids strike a pose.

The successful Game of Three Halves event on July 6th brought a busy 2010-2011 programme year to a close. All of our primary school twinnings, cross-community leagues, coaches’ trainings, and residentials have ended until the fall, when we will resume regular programme activity.

Joanne Fitzpatrick and a Whiterock girl have fun during their summer scheme.

However, PPI-NI doesn’t just sit around our office staring at the wall waiting for September.  A lot of the community centres with which PPI-NI works in its Cross-Community League and Leadership Development Programme host summer schemes for the youth in their area. Whiterock Leisure Centre in West Belfast is currently running a summer scheme and asked if PeacePlayers could provide a few coaches to teach their kids the game of basketball…we couldn’t refuse.

This past week, International Fellow Rory O’Neil and Local Coordinator Joanne Fitzpatrick spent several days running kids through PPI-NI drills and games at Whiterock Leisure Centre. Games teaching kids defense, dribbling, passing, and everyone’s favorite, shooting, were enjoyed by 40 kids as young as 5 and as old 16 years old.

The Whiterock kids practice their favorite activity: shooting!

PPI-NI’s relationship with Whiterock goes back several years and one can clearly see the close relationship we have developed with the Centre, its staff, and the kids by looking at their representation throughout our programmes. Participants young and old from Whiterock attended this year’s CCL program in both the Fall and Spring sessions. In fact, the high scorer of the Fall CCL was Sean Paul ‘S.P.’ Thompson from Whiterock!  At every PPI-NI tournament, dozens of kids from Whiterock attend, not only as participants, but also as junior coaches and volunteers. Perhaps most importantly, every tournament, Whiterock Leader Sean ‘Topper’ Thompson (S.P.’s father) brings along his DJ equipment and keeps the tournament rocking all afternoon.

Thank you Whiterock for inviting us to take part in your summer scheme and thank you for being such great supporters of PeacePlayers International-Northern Ireland!

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by | April 6, 2011 · 3:20 pm

PPI – Northern Ireland’s Cross-Community League Wraps Up Next Week

Watch the video above to see this term’s CCL participants showing their enthusiasm for PeacePlayers International – Northern Ireland!

After five fun weeks together, next week, unfortunately, is the final session of PPI-NI’s Junior Cross-Community League. The Cross-Community League (previously known as Community Center League) is an evening program that invites children from around Belfast to come together for basketball training, matches, and community relations discussions.

In the past, this program was specifically for the community centers and youth clubs of Belfast. This term, however, PPI-NI extended the CCL invitation to the Twinning participants from Holy Cross Girls Primary School, Wheatfield Primary School, St. Matthew’s Primary School and Avoniel Primary School. The four primary schools from North and East Belfast contribute half of the players at Junior CCL (ages 9-13), who play alongside participants from Whiterock Community Center and Divis Youth Group from West Belfast and Dee Street Community Center and Knocknagoney Community Center from East Belfast.

In addition to basketball practice and league games, all players take part in “Team Talk” where the teams discuss various community relations topics such as identity, assumptions, perceptions, stereotypes, and conflict management. Also new this term, PPI-NI created the position of “Junior Coach” to encourage the senior CCL participants (ages 14-17) to return to the program to help coach and serve as role models for the younger participants.

PPI-NI invited several of the senior CCL participants to return as Junior Coaches who were given assignments as assistant coaches, referees or community relations assistants. PPI-NI would like to wish all the coaches and players good luck for the finals next week and a huge thank you to everyone for their participation this term!

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