07 October 2009
On and Off the Court, Balkan Athletes Learn Conflict Resolution
Basketball players from different countries bond over love for the game
Novi Sad, Serbia — Although their countries used to be part of one nation, teenagers from Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia and Kosovo do not typically interact much with one another. But they have many shared interests — including an enthusiasm for sports like basketball.
Mihajlo Delic, director of the nongovernmental organization I Came to Play, has traveled the world playing basketball and believes sports can bring people of different backgrounds together. For the past two summers, Delic has brought teenagers from across the former Yugoslavia to a 10-day basketball camp in Serbia. Students, selected for both their athletic ability and good grades, are coached not only in the sport but in conflict resolution and teamwork.
The camp is free for the players, the first such program in the region. The first summer, 38 boys participated in the camp. In summer 2009, 100 boys and girls, including orphans and players with special needs, came to the camp.
“We try to provide this opportunity to the kids who need it most,” Delic said. In the region, youth sports are often organized through private clubs that require monthly dues. Delic’s organization seeks to promote youth sports as “a right, not a privilege,” he said.
The goal is to promote fair play and tolerance, Delic said. Most of the participants come from small towns and have never traveled far or interacted much with people of different ethnicities. At the camp, they play and learn together, and share sleeping quarters with players of different ethnicities.
Although the players come from neighboring countries that have similar cultures and languages and share the same enthusiasm for sports and music, they know little about one another, Delic said. Their similarities need “to be celebrated and emphasized and not pushed aside.” Sports, Delic said, is “one of the most important ways we can connect our countries.”
Every day, the students have basketball training and practices. But they also have lectures and workshops on conflict resolution, team work, social responsibility and healthy lifestyles. Instructors include local community and nongovernmental organization leaders and activists, as well as professional basketball players.
Learning from well-known basketball players is “invaluable,” Delic said, remembering as a young player how much he admired the professionals. “We use these people and opportunities to emphasize our messages to the kids,” he said.
Last summer, Vlade Divac and Zarko Paspalj, two of the most well-known Serbian basketball players to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), visited the camp. They played with the students and signed autographs. They also talked about their personal experiences and how sports taught them about life and the importance of cooperation. Delic said the professional players take their role very seriously. “They don’t use this opportunity just to market themselves. … They actually visit the project and participate in it wholeheartedly.”
Delic said the camp carefully selects the professional players, as I Came to Play emphasizes sports as a peaceful uniting tool. Delic said that at times, the values promoted in sports are “not the ones we want to associate as part of a healthy environment.” Whether it is players behaving poorly or fans causing violence, perpetrators should be marginalized, not hailed, Delic said.
Local communities have taken notice of Delic’s work, and youth clubs and cities seek ways to be involved. Last summer, the mayor of Novi Sad played basketball with the students. Each year, the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade has participated in a game with the players. The embassy also provided a $24,000 grant to the camp as part of the Democracy Commission Small Grants Program.
Delic has many success stories to share from the camp. For example, for years, ethnic Serbs had refused to play on the youth national team in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Delic said. After meeting their peers from other ethnic groups at the camp, two ethnic Serbs decided to play for the national team.
One of the most rewarding parts of the program, Delic said, is that the players stay in touch and visit one another, forming a network. “It enriches their lives,” he said.
More information about I Came To Play is available on the organization’s Web site.
