Article written by Lara Killen during work experience with PeacePlayers.
In this specially written work experience roundup by Lara Killen, we get to find out a young person’s perspective of working for PeacePlayers NI and learning to use sport as a tool for building peace.
Peaceplayers said: “We were very lucky to have Lara, a lower 6th student studying Sociology, Physical Education and Art, with us for her work experience.”
PeacePlayers NI is supported by the Community Relations Council through its Core Funding Scheme.
With a passion for sport and helping the community, when Lara heard about PeacePlayers, “it sounded like the perfect place for me to carry out my work experience…”
In Lara’s Words
PeacePlayers uses sport, usually basketball, to create chances for young people to take on leadership roles while teaching respect and challenging sectarianism ideals, reaching over 1,200 Catholic and Protestant youth each year.
I started my experience with PeacePlayers at their largest event of the year, Summer Jam, where over 200 young people took part in with over 300 people involved including their dedicated volunteers, parents and some VIPs, such as the deputy First Minister. Being introduced to PeacePlayers through such a large event was rather daunting. However, I was quickly welcomed with open arms and was given the role of being one of three coaches for a team of kids aged 11 to 14. The Summer Jam was a celebration of the end of the season for PeacePlayers and brought together all the kids that took part over the year to Queen’s Sport Centre in Belfast for a cross-community basketball tournament. Matches were played throughout the day between teams of kids from different communities, some of which only met that day. A healthy rivalry began to show between the teams. However, this never affected the kids’ sportsmanship and compassion towards each other.
There were people from all over Northern Ireland taking part in Summer Jam, as well as volunteers from DePauw University Indiana, who are a key part of the fundraising for the Summer Jam Tournament. This huge cross-community event allows the young people to build positive relationships while promoting sustainable peace in Northern Ireland.
The official start of my work experience at PeacePlayers was at Crumlin Integrated Primary School where PeacePlayers came in to do a team building Fun Day. They worked in three different stations focusing on defence, offense and teamwork with P5, P6 and P7s in mixed teams. I was given the opportunity to lead some of the teamwork activities and see how the day was organised, which was interesting to see the planning that goes into a day like that.
For the rest of my time at PeacePlayers I was in their office, in the Peace House, sitting in on a “blue sky” meeting, which allowed me to see the brainstorming and development of ideas to try to make each season better than the last, as well as a global call which included the PeacePlayers teams across the world. This included South Africa, the Middle East and the US, who have five different locations. It was exciting to see how the PeacePlayers model is applied to the needs of different countries, as the US and South Africa would prioritise racial inequality, while here, in Northern Ireland, and the Middle East focus on the religious divisions and prejudice in their communities.
I really enjoyed my time at PeacePlayers and now hope to volunteer and coach for them in the future as the work they do makes a clear impact on the community, starting at the grassroots level. I know I can use my experience from this part week in all aspects of my sporting career.