Dallas AIF Regional Board member Page Tucker flies in to Belfast to visit PeacePlayers : February 2007

Click any photo to send as an ecard!

On a recent trip to Belfast, I had the privilege of getting to see PeacePlayers International, an Ireland Funds sponsored program, in person. For most Americans, it is very hard to understand or grasp “The Troubles” of Northern Ireland.

• PeacePlayers >
• Fly-in to Ireland >

Most of us grew up in mixed religion neighborhoods with friends of all dominations and one never even thought about asking a friend what religion they were. You were more concerned with what kind-of bike they had or how cool their toys were. While many would say The Troubles are over, if they were to be brutally honest with themselves they would have to admit that that is not entirely true.

Major incidents of violence, as recently as The Holy Cross incident of 2001, continue to happen. During The Holy Cross incident, Protestants lined up along a Protestant city block, yelling, harassing, threatening and throwing urine bombs, at young Catholic girls, as young as five years-old, who were trying to walk to their Catholic school up a hill through the Protestant neighborhood. Riot police were called in and this conflict lasted for three months.

The emotional damage inflicted on everyone in this situation will last a life time and will take years to reverse. As I listened in distress to the description of the Holy Cross incident, just a short 5½ years ago, I was shocked to realize this problem of hatred and prejudice is still breeding and growing, as opposed to vanishing or even stagnating. Some would try to say that today the problems are no longer a religious issue but rather a class or nationality issue. However you try to present it, it doesn’t make sense, nor does it make sense what is still being ingrained into the youth of Northern Ireland and the hatred that is continuing to be spread.

PeacePlayers International is trying to rectify these types of situations and make a lasting difference in the communities. Via the religion neutral sport of basketball, they are trying to bridge these divides, develop leaders, and change people’s perceptions by uniting and educating children about their communities.  

There were two programs I witnessed at PeacePlayers; the Twinning program and the Club program. TheTwinning program is a school based program where during the school day, entire classes of children are bused weekly to a neutral Leisure Center and learn to work and play together. There are four to five “sessions” going on during the hour and they include three basketball drills, one team building exercise and one discussion group. The Club program is an after school program bringing children together who live in the same neighborhoods but would otherwise never meet in their day to day lives.

During a Twinning program, I watched and listened to the children during a discussion session. I witnessed hope that the problems facing Northern Ireland have a very real potential to actually disappear. The children were receptive and attentive to their coaches and were like sponges soaking in all they could absorb. There was a look of admiration and respect as they listened to these vibrant, energetic mentors explain how it is okay to have different religious beliefs but yet be friends and get along. How different isn’t necessarily bad or scary. I witnessed children of both faiths playing basketball together, working as a team, with only the goal of having fun and winning evident and no thought whatsoever toward which house of worship you attended.

They were hurling basketballs toward the goal, rather than hurling insults at each other. And it is obvious that the staff and the coaches at PeacePlayers are dedicated, committed individuals, who firmly believe in their mission. After a Twinning session, I listened as the coaches enthusiastically talked amongst themselves about different children and what they had accomplished that day through their team building exercises. They were excited and motivated and this type of passion and ardor is so sincere and contagious that the children cannot help but be affected by it.

I had someone ask me before I went to Belfast why I was “wasting my time” looking at a project like this and why wouldn’t I put my efforts toward something like curing cancer where I could actually save someone and make a difference. And while I am all for curing cancer, I think this project is helping to “save someone”. And while it might be through the unconventional means of sports, it will make a difference if the violence and the hatred is stopped and no one is ever hurt again. Who knows, it might be a Northern Ireland Research team, composed of one Catholic and one Protestant who were brought together by their passion for basketball, who find the cure for cancer.