Tag Archives: The English School

by | February 11, 2011 · 1:58 pm

PPI-Cyprus Battles Hooliganism

The PeacePlayers Team at the English School in a group huddle.

This week the PPI-CY staff attended a high school basketball game in Nicosia between the Greek-Cypriot public high school of Saint Vasilios, and a bicommunal private high school, the English School. For the past two years PPI-CY has run club teams at the English School, consisting of over 40 Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot boys and girls. Many of the same players on the club team also play on the official school team, so Monday of this week we went to their game to show our support.

When we arrived at the Agios Vasilios gymnasium, the game was already under way and the English School had an early lead. Despite being in the middle of the game, some of the players smiled and waved from the bench, excited to see their PeacePlayers coaches sitting in the stands.

But before long we realized that the atmosphere in the gym was less than positive. In the stands with us were a group of teenagers wearing black sweatshirts with the names and faces of former Greek-Cypriot extremists printed on them. They were pointing out that the kids playing for the English School team were Turkish, and began using offensive language towards them.

After a hard fought game, the English School came away with the win. But the excitement of the victory was quickly overshadowed when a small blast went off in the entryway of the gym. The teenagers ran away laughing, and no one was hurt. But as we went over to congratulate our boys on the win, their mood was somber.

“It was for us,” one of our Turkish-Cypriot kids said referring to the blast. “We heard them talking about us from the other end of the court and we knew they were going to do something.”

Hooliganism at Cypriot football matches can get out of control quickly.

We would explain to our kids that the teenagers were just hooligans that enjoy disrupting sporting events, and their actions were not directly targeted at them. But as negative experiences like these affect children’s lives, it becomes even harder to overcome the fear and stereotypes into which they can so easily fall back.

Unfortunately incidents involving hooliganism, especially related to sports, have been a rising trend in Cyprus. Political party ideologies are influencing sports teams, and sports clubs are encouraging fans to act out, many times in very violent ways. Just two weeks before the incident at the English School game, out-of-control fans at a local football match stabbed an off-duty police officer for wearing the colors of the opposing team.

While PeacePlayers-Cyprus’ mission is to use sports to bridge divides between Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots, this cannot be achieved unless we also teach kids respect for the game and each other. By teaching our kids the values of sportsmanship and fair play, we can help them to see the negative effects hooliganism has on their favorite sports and in their lives.

Teaching kids sportsmanship and fair play can help them avoid hooliganism.

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by | January 21, 2011 · 2:16 pm

Cyprus Through a Visitor’s Eyes: PPI-CY Fellow Gets a Visit from His Parents

My parents and I at the top of St. Hilarion Castle in Kyrenia

It was a happy week for me and PeacePlayers-Cyprus. After 10 months of talking through a small camera over Skype, my Father, Glenn, and step-mother, Pam, finally made the 36 hour trek from San Francisco to Cyprus. When I picked them up from the airport in Larnaca I expected them to be droopy from jet lag, but to my surprise they were full of energy ready to tackle the busy week I had planned for them.

A traditional Cyprus meze involves 30 different dishes and can last several hours.

It was my goal that in the short time they had here to show them as much as I could about Cypriot culture, PeacePlayers and my life since moving here in March. But first we had to eat, and there is no better way to welcome a visitor to Cyprus them to stuff their faces with a traditional Cypriot meze:  over 30 different dishes, everything from sardines to tahini, salad and pilaf, chicken, pork, lamb, rabbit, and yes even sheep’s brains…yum.

Myself talking to the Lapta girls about proper shooting technique.

The next two days I dragged my folks (happy and willing of course) to two PeacePlayers basketball practices. The first was in the Turkish-Cypriot village of Lapta in the north of Cyprus. The girls were so excited to meet my parents, they shook their hands, kissed them on both cheeks and told me that “my father was very beautiful,” which was followed by plenty of giggles. Afterwards my parents told me how impressed they were by the girls’ attitude, their support for one another and the general positive atmosphere of the practice.

The first rule of PeacePlayers practice: Teamwork.

The following day I took my parents to the PeacePlayers basketball practice at the English School in Nicosia. This practice is very different from the one the day before, as each of PPI-CY’s teams are very unique. The practice at the English School is bicommunal, and before the practice even began, I pointed out to my parents how naturally the boys segregated themselves, with all the Greek-Cypriots on one end of the court and all the Turkish-Cypriots on the other. This is why I stress teamwork at each English School practice, asking them to concentrate on passing the ball, helping on defense and giving teammates high fives.

My dad and I at the ruins of Salamis, an ancient Cypriot city 3500 years old.

However, not everything on my parents visit could revolve around PeacePlayers. We made plenty of time to see some of the amazing Cypriot sites, including the ancient ruins of Salamis, the byzantine church of Saint Lazarus, the Buyuk Han, Saint Hilarion Castle, Bellapais, old Kyrenia Harbor and several other incredible Cypriot attractions.

Standing in front of the fence guarding the abandoned city of Varosha.

But on the last day of their visit, I also decided to take my parents to another less well known site in Cyprus, Varosha. Varosha is a city that existed prior to the conflict of 1974 and used to be one of Cyprus’ most popular destinations, featuring 6 kilometers of beachfront hotels. Today it remains just is it was one afternoon in ’74, when its 40,000 inhabitants were forced to leave with little warning. Since that time it has remained completely abandoned except for the occasional photo journalist or curious tourist. As I stood on the beach behind the barbed-wire fence looking at the rubble of an entire city, hearing only the wind and the waves, I reflected again on the sadness of the “Cyprus Problem.” I am glad I could share that moment with my parents, so they could fully realize why I am here, working to help the next generation of Cypriots move past decades of segregation and fear to create a future of peace.

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by | January 15, 2010 · 2:08 pm

PPI-CY: Expanding and “Releasing the Peace” to New Groups of Cypriots

TC Coordinator Orhun Mevlit and Managing Director Marina Vasilara address over 100 kids at the English School in Nicosia.

A new year for PeacePlayers International – Cyprus means new programs, new grants, and, most importantly, new young people. PPI-CY started off the year on very good terms. On Tuesday, January 12, Greek Cypriot Coordinator Marios Argyrou, Turkish Cypriot Coordinator Orhun Mevlit, Managing Director Marina Vasilara, and Program Director Rory O’Neil held an assembly to introduce new basketball teams at the English School in Nicosia to over 100 boys and girls, ages 12-14. Every student in attendance watched the 2007 ESPY Awards ceremony that honored PeacePlayers International’s work in Northern Ireland.

(From R-L) Marina, Orhun, and Marios chat with the English School Headmaster, Deborah Duncan after the school assembly. She looks pretty impressed!

The English School, one of Cyprus’ oldest and most accredited high schools, is one of the few high schools on the island open to both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots. PPI-CY is forming two new Junior Varsity teams (boys and girls) that will start practicing next week and become an integral part of the school’s massive after-school activities program. We knew that we were in the right place when during registration yesterday, the boys demanded that we start practicing as soon as possible. They had a choice: start next week inside the gymnasium, or start Friday (today) outside in possibly gloomy weather. Practice starts today at 1pm local time.

Also this past week, PPI-CY secured a $15,000 grant from the U.S. Embassy here in Cyprus. The grant involves two twinnings for each PPI-CY team, and an island-wide tournament which will take place in March or April. This is the 2nd year in a row that PPI-CY has secured funding from the U.S. Embassy and is extremely happy and excited to be working with the Embassy again this year. Last year’s Embassy project was one of the most successful projects for PPI-CY.

Some of the team in Northern Ireland. Are they ready to square off againt PPI - CY?

Also, all of PPI-CY’s coaches will travel together to Northern Ireland for a 5-day immersion trip in conjunction with the E.U.’s People-2-People Youth Exchanges II project which aims to “bring the Turkish-Cypriot community closer to the European Union.” PPI-Northern Ireland has graciously accepted to play the role of host to the traveling group. Activities on the docket include a day-long conflict resolution training with PPI-NI’s one and only Tony Macaulay, tours of Belfast, team-building excercises and excursions to witness PPI-NI’s twinning program. There is event talk of a possible PPI-NI vs. PPI-CY coaches’ basketball game to finally settle the centuries-old debate: who is better at basketball, Cyprus or Northern Ireland?

Cafer at a PPI-CY event in Lapta back in 2006.

In addition to new teams and new grants, PPI-CY is also welcoming two new coaches to our staff. Cafer Muhtaroglu will coach a Turkish-Cypriot team of boys in North Nicosia, and Fatma Cambazoglu will step in for Zalihe Yucel in coaching the Lapta girls’ team. Zalihe has just gone on maternity leave and will take a “holiday” from coaching for a few months.  Some of you might remember Cafer. At one time, he was the Turkish-Cypriot Coordinator for PPI-CY during it’s start-up period in Cyprus. He now returns to coaching by bringing a team of 11-12 year old boys into the PPI realm for their first time. Welcome Fatma, and welcome back Cafer!

2010 has certainly started off as an exciting and very promising year for PPI-CY. Around the world, a number of nonprofits are having a tough time financially, and an even more difficult time achieving some stability during a very unstable time. PPI-CY is truly blessed to be able to increase, rather than decrease the number of participants that are exposed to our program, as well as add new coaches, new programs, implement new grants, and offer amazing training programs and experiences for its coaches and staff members. This is a testament to the power of PeacePlayers International’s message – that even a global financial crisis cannot stop the freight-train of a movement that is PeacePlayers International.

It's going to be a great 2010 for PPI - CY!

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