How One Group Is Using A Sport To Bring Together Youth In Countries Divided By Conflict
For many of us, myself included, the idea of regional conflict can seem fictional.
However, in war-torn countries all across the world regional conflict is a serious reality that is disconnecting millions of people over disagreements that they have nothing to do with. In an effort to combat this, three individuals Dr. David Barkan (California), Linda Sidorsky (Massachusetts) and Dori Yaniv (Israel) founded the initiative Ultimate Peace in the spring of 2008.
The initiative uses the sport of Ultimate Frisbee to bring together youth from different parts of the world in a camp-like atmosphere to connect and build friendships with one another. What sets these connections apart is that a lot of the friendships that are built are made between individuals who otherwise would have never been able to meet, due to regional conflict.
These connections not only help to form wonderful bonds, but they also serve as a living example of how unnecessary regional conflict really is. As the organization’s mission statement states: Ultimate Peace builds bridges of friendship, trust, and leadership between youth who live in communities divided by conflict, using the values-based sport of Ultimate as its tool. For those that aren’t familiar with the sport, Ultimate Frisbee is a wonderful sport that is both an incredible cardiovascular workout and is very cost-effective to play – all you need is a frisbee disc and some friends. What also sets Ultimate Frisbee apart from the majority of other sports is that at the recreational level it is almost always self-officiated, meaning that it encourages sportsmanship, fair play, and camaraderie while still being competitive. Through summer camps, weekly practices, multi-community tournaments, youth leadership workshops and much more, Ultimate Peace impacts the lives of hundreds of youth every year. Between the shattering of unjustified beliefs and the forging of valuable friendships, the organization paves the way for a brighter future in parts of the world that can certainly use a change of heart. Check out the following videos to see the profound impact that Ultimate Peace has already had on the world’s youth: As with every great initiative there are always several ways for us all to get involved no matter what part of the world we live in. Here are 4 different ways you can be a part of the incredible work being done by Ultimate Peace: ——————————————— Be sure to stay posted to the Ultimate Peace website to stay in the loop on their great cause and to find out more details about their upcoming 2015 United States tour from March 24th – April 4th! .
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