Play Football Make Peace

Q. What is the Peace Dream Parnu Cup in Estonia?
The Summer Cup in Parnu was first started in 2003. Already in Scandinavia there is a lot of interest in youth football tournaments, and some of the world’s most famous youth tournaments are held in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. Football tournaments are a popular summer activity during the months of July and August.  The other tournaments include the Norway Cup, the Gothia Cup, the Dana Cup and the Helsinki Cup. The Baltic region has been developing since independence from  the Soviet Union in 1991 and there great opportunities for sport, especially football.

The organizers of the Parnu Summer Cup are fortunate that their location is Parnu, a beautiful seaside resort. It is well known throughout Scandinavia and the Baltic region. There is fresh air and wonderful nature, with beach and recreational activities for parents and for children.

The mission of the Parnu Cup is to organize a summer football tournament in Pärnu to develop Estonian football, to promote communication between different cultures and to develop tourism in Pärnu and in Estonia. Their goal is to become the biggest and most memorable football tournament in the Baltic states, and the tournament with the best organization.

Play Football Make Peace (PFMP) a partner of the Peace Dream Foundation has been working with FC Vaprus the organizers of the Parnu Summer Cup since 2004. As an “emerging “ country Estonia was one of the countries targeted by PFMP to develop a football for youth program. The main PFMP coordinator has been Reigo Tonsberg, one of the FC Vaprus founders. Reigo has been a very strong supporter of PFMP, and has carried the PFMP flag and banners with FC Vaprus overseas trips to Egypt and Israel, continuously promoting the role of peace through football. In November, 2006 an Estonian team also attended the PFMP tournament in Amman, Jordan.
In 2007 PFMP partnered with FC Vaprus again. This time PFMP sponsored the annual Parnu Summer Cup organized by FC Vaprus. This sports tournament was now branded Parnu Summer Cup- Play Football Make Peace. In 2007 over 1200 youth ages 11-16 attended this event. The tournament attracted teams from Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine and Estonia. Players are aged from 11 till 16, playing against teams from their same age group. In 2008, 97 teams participated and about 1600 youth were registered. The partnership of the Parnu Summer Cup, Play Football Make Peace, and the Peace Dream Foundation is now cemented. Already in 2008 the tournament champions were awarded the Peace Dream Cup and players also received a Peace Dream award for fair play.

The Parnu Summer Cup is growing. There were 33% more participants in 2008. With a volunteer staff, this is a logistical challenge, having to arrange accommodation and transport etc. For some foreign teams they need visas and with Estonia an EU member, there are often immigration issues to be overcome. The same volunteers from 2007 were also there for 2008, so the tournament preparations went smoothly because of the previous year’s experience.

The Summer Cup has solid support from the Parnu city government, from the regular FC Vaprus sponsors, and the Estonian Football Association.

Q. What do you think were some of the important outcomes as a result of this year's Peace Dream Parnu Cup and how does it relate to your overall strategy for peace through soccer?
The strategy to work with the Parnu Summer Cup developed in November 2006. At that time, I had a conversation with Reigo Tonsberg during the PFMP tournament in Amman, Jordan. We discussed the significance of football in Europe and how PFMP would need to be an active presence in European football to have any worldwide influence.

Although PFMP could continue to do projects which could emphasize peace-building and charity, there was a need for PFMP to emphasize competence within football if it was to really be embraced by the football community. As Reigo put it:“Do you want peace or do you want football?”

This question rang very true. I needed to guide PFMP to a level of quality which embraced both the technical skills of the sport and yet might also give PFMP the opportunity to introduce the personal and team values found within the game which could help promote peace. Not peace found in some far off ideal, but peace found in relationships, where behaviors could show compassion, concern, and awareness whilst still having a competitive spirit and the desire to win. Football can teach how to win and how to lose, and do both gracefully. 

People do not easily think of peace through football, but football has a huge role to play. That became our PFMP challenge. We can teach the virtues of the game and those can be transferred off the field into everyday life. Football has often been described as“the beautiful game.” As a thing of beauty, it must also provide paths to peace. Recently many famous leaders like Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan have been emphasizing the life skills that can be learned through the sport. In Europe the quality of play is extremely important. In Europe youth expect to play in matches with youth of similar ability, with boys and girls who are committed to improve their skills, with well prepared teams, and with coaches who take their work seriously. 

The Summer Cup gives PFMP the chance to engage European football, to invite good players to compete at all age levels. The big difference: it is done under the banner of peace. Youth playing in the game may not be thinking about world peace when they are on the pitch. But, with good ethics being modeled and taught, and with new ideas being introduced to coaches about the values which bind the sport together and help young men and women to become better citizens, then this is the break through needed for Play Football Make Peace and our partner the Peace Dream Foundation. The 2008 Parnu Summer Cup gave us that breakthrough. Now the organizers want to re-brand the next year’s tournament as the Peace Dream Cup. Already that is a huge step forward.

Q. How was the level of play and excitement among the players throughout the tournament as compared to other football tournaments?
I have not attended one of the other tournaments in the Scandinavian region. However Alex Conidi (18) , the son of a dear friend from Germany, volunteered to assist me with the Summer Cup. Alex is a very active football player in Cologne. His team has entered the Gothia Cup in Sweden, the largest in the world. I have some words  which he wrote to me after he returned home.

“In my opinion the tournament was a great success and there is even more potential in it. I did not expect that so many teams would come and I also did not expect to see such a well organized tournament. Another surprise was the environment; Pärnu is a perfect place for a football tournament: the beach, the town, the hotels and the excellent pitches”.

Alex goes on: “Furthermore I think that the people are very special there. Reigo and Ivo (the owners of the club) are very amazing. It is very important to have such people who are willing to work together with you. They want you to help them; simultaneously they are able to work on their own. They have the power and the ambition to work for an improvement in football. That is more than a good
foundation for you, to continue your work in Estonia”.   

I think Alex hits the nail on the head. The level of play was excellent. There were many hard fought games, with lots of intensity. I saw some tearful players when they lost: they had invested so much. We also saw great exuberance. A terrific tournament!

Q. There have been much effort to bring a team representing Russia. Although it has been difficult, how was it possible and why is it important for the tournament?
The presence of a Russian team is very important. Estonia got its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, but there are still some historical issues. Even though the Estonian population is 25% Russian it is great to have a representative team from Russia. The team needed some financial assistance, as it came from a poorer part of the country. They acquitted themselves well and came in 4th place. Their coach is
a very kind person, well disciplined and calm. He is very reassuring for the players. Actually he knew the ideas of PFMP and peace in the Summer Cup. He was present with a team last year. His desire to reach out and have reconciliation was the great motivation for him to bring a team to share with us again in 2008.

Q. In preparing for this year's Peace Dream Parnu Cup, can you share some interesting experiences you've had here in Estonia?
The Summer Cup cake is always an interesting story. At the Summer Cup the event  has the largest cake ever baked in Estonia. This year because more players were expected, then the cake had to be even larger. If the tournament keeps growing at 33% then the cake will be a monster cake in a few years. The cake always gets eaten!

I have been to Estonia maybe six times. Reigo told me last year that the Estonian nature is quite reserved and usually non-committal. They do not get easily excited. In fact the reverse, they can seem very uninterested. However, Reigo went on to promise that if the Estonians decide they like something or support something, then they will be absolutely stubborn and fight for that thing until the end. This year I saw this happen, old friends and contacts have become excited about the Peace Dream idea like I could never imagine. I think we have a good home in Estonia with our programs.

Q. What is your overall vision for Peace Dream and Play Football Make Peace in Estonia and in Europe? How do you see Estonia as an important part of Peace Dream's efforts and goals? 
This is a very good question. Thank you for asking. Earlier I had mentioned that it is hard to imagine talking about football without talking about Europe, and therefore how could we talk about peace through football if Europe is not included. 

In order for change, we need nothing short of a transformation of the culture of  football. This means that we must go to the very heart of the game. We must discover its ethics. Through these we can show the power of sportsmanship, the power of playing fair, and the creativity that is unleashed when we play by the rules. Not just to win at all costs, but to win or lose with honor.

The heart of football is in Europe. This is where football originated, and this is where the power of football continues. It would be very difficult to enter some of the top performing football countries like England or Germany and try to build a model of the principles and values which we think can improve the game and which can also change the football culture and have the possibility influence the way that people act and behave in their families and communities. We need to start with a place where we can test the principles and create model programs. Estonia is that kind of country.

In Estonia we discover a small country of 1.3 million people who are independent, but eager to show the world that they have much to offer. I heard Mr.Aivar Pohlak, the Estonian Football Association president say that it would be difficult for Estonia to field a winning national team. The small population does not give him a large pool of players to draw from like the major countries like Germany, France and England.
However Mr. Pohlak went on to say that what Estonian football can offer is a model of social responsibility; that Estonia can show that football can be important to a nation in the way it raises and influences its youth and helps form their behavior and attitudes, and in how it teaches teamwork and skills to help people in life.

Mr. Pohlak invited Play Football Make Peace to partner with the Estonian Football Association and create a model which can then be offered to UEFA an example of football truly serving society, and being a positive influence and welcomed for its contribution. UEFA and indeed FIFA are looking for good models which can be multiplied. Mr. Pohlak is uniquely positioned to help make this happen.

Q. Over 40 countries have now been involved in Peace Dream through Play Football Make Peace. As the Program Director, what is your evaluation of the program and what are some of your plans for the future?
In the last 4 years there have been many activities. At first we used tournaments as a good way to spread our basic idea that football could be a vehicle for peace.
Actually we could learn a lot, because in each country the expression is very different. In some countries they have violence or are coming out of civil war. Here any activity to bring people from different groups together is good. Other countries have religious or political frictions. In other countries they may be relatively peaceful, but have not been able to develop their society or economies so successfully.

Peace is not just about reducing conflict. Peace requires personal growth, as peace begins within each person. Self-management takes great effort and sports like football can really help youth develop those personal skills. We learn that these skills can be transferred off the pitch into everyday life. Testimonies which were heard from participants, from coaches, from spectators and from referees helped to build our knowledge about the power of football. The grass roots work is a great educator.

In Play Football Make Peace we learned to refine our approach; to simplify and to universalize. Football is played throughout the world. It is at heart a simple game. We needed the education to be simple, and yet powerful enough to be heard, and useful enough to be acted upon. Now in our 4th year we are actively testing the educational model, so that we can multiply this in the following years.

Every day new contacts ask me how they can bring PFMP to their community or their country. Our plans are to expand these positive values in the countries where we have two other areas are very important:

Women’s  football is growing rapidly. We want to be at the heart of that growth. Secondly, in 2010 the FIFA World Cup will be held in South Africa. We want to be in South Africa proudly sharing with the world our message of Play Football Make Peace and to see Peace Dream be recognized worldwide.