Play Football Make Peace

Since June 2007, Play Football Make Peace Director (PFMP), Robin Graham has been working closely with the PFMP coordinator for Estonia, Reigo Tonsberg to build a good relationship with the Estonian Football Federation (EEF) and its President, Aivar Pohlak. This is a further step in a series of steps to put into practical terms the vision for peace through sports that is the idea of the Peace Dream Foundation, the sponsor of the Peace Cup and the Peace Queen Cup.

In April 2008 an agreement was reached that PFMP would run a seminar for the EFF in November 2008, to which all Estonian managers, trainers and coaches are to be invited. This partnership with EFF may be very significant: Aivar Pohlak is also a member of the FIFA Committee for Fair Play and Social Responsibility and is enthusiastic to build models of how football can contribute to society. He is very supportive of PFMP’s goal to create a football culture that teaches youth good values and ethics on the pitch which can translate into good citizenship off the pitch.

Estonia only has a population of 1.3 million, but their drive and enthusiasm should not be underestimated. Aivar Pohlak sees that Estonian football has a lot to offer Europe and the world. It may not have the most competitive national football team, but he sees that given the Estonian drive for excellence, Estonian football can become a model of social responsibility. Mr. Pohlak is very serious about “the good of the game” and sees the need for football to be a positive social influence at home and abroad.

 
 Volunteer Coaches in Cologne
It was decided not to wait until the November seminar to plan and initiate future programs, but to quickly take action. In partnership with PFMP the EFF is supporting a program in Israel which targets peaceful coexistence and conflict prevention. This program, called Football4Peace, has been operating for 8 years. It was started in Israel by a former pastor. He saw the value of football for youth in Israel to break down the prejudices and barriers between ethnic & religious groups. Eight years later the vision is still being put into action and the program continues to be a successful model of football in the service of community and peace. The program is now run out of the University of Brighton’s Department of Sports Education.

The first step was to get involved in the Football4Peace training camp in Cologne, Germany. PFMP sent Sergio Alcubilla, and the EFF sent their chief trainer, Urmas Kirs and Reigo Tonsberg from FC Vaprus. The report from Sergio, below, describes the weekend training camp in May.

The next stage will be the program itself which will be in Israel during July. The activities will take place in Arab, Jewish and Druze communities in the north of Israel, working with children and youth. Besides the PFMP and EFF participants, there will be about 80 volunteer coaches from the UK, Germany, Israel and Palestine.

The program is supported by the British Council, the England Football Association, the Israeli Sports Authority, and the British Embassy. Sergio will attend together with two volunteers from the EFF. This is an important outreach within UEFA, of which Israel is a member. The model of peaceful coexistence and conflict prevention that the Football4Peace curriculum teaches has important lessons for other parts of Europe where there are tensions between ethnic blocs. PFMP will partner with the EFF and Football4peace to explore the expansion of the program into such potential crisis areas.

Cologne, Germany
Football4Peace
May 22-25

Urmas and Reigo during the workshop
From May 22-25, PFMP joined the coaches’ training program for Football for Peace in Cologne, Germany. Held at the Deutsche Sporthochschule (German Sports University),the four day workshop included students, coaches, and educators from Brighton University in England, the Sports School in Germany, the Wingate Institute in Israel, the England Football Association, and from communities throughout Israel. With strong support from the British Council and the partnering universities, the training session was highly informative and effective in preparing the young coaches for their work this summer in Israel. Football4Peace focuses primarily in using football as a tool for peaceful coexistence to bring communities experiencing ethnic tensions together. This training session helped the volunteer coaches to understand how to make the values of Football4Peace substantial for youth in those areas of conflict.

PFMP had three representatives join the training session; two coaches from the EFF and one representative based from the New York headquarters of PFMP. The representatives were warmly welcomed in an effort to share best practices and create a partnership which could be mutually beneficial.