A group of 18 kids from the new after-school program attended a EuroLeague professional basketball league game recently.
PPI-CY runs a special after-school program at the 4th Elementary School in Agios Antonios, Limassol, right next door to a high-school where PPI-CY runs two single-identity teams. This year, through a grant from the Ministry of Education, PPI-CY is operating a twice-a-week afterschool basketball program for the 5th and 6th grades of the school (boys and girls aged 11-12). The school in Agios Antonios is a mixture of Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot children, along with kids from various other European ethnicities. It is a true melting pot.
Giannis Giannoulis, a veteran European player from Greece, received a majority of the applause from the PPI-CY participants throughout the night.
The children particpate in two practices a week learning the game of basketball through the PPI lens. Games detailing the concepts of cooperation, trust, perseverance, and reconciliation are a mainstay at each practice. For most of the participants, it is their first opportunity to learn how to play a sport on a regular basis, let alone be a part of something special like PeacePlayers International. Practice usually begins with the children sprinting out of their classrooms as the bell rings and tackling PPI-CY coach Efthimios Kyprianou as he waits for them after school on the playground. Efthimios is no stranger to the situation; he is a former student at the 4th Elementary School himself.
Once a month, the kids take part in a field trip to museuems, restaurants, cultural sites, other cities, and even local basketball games. At the game this past Tuesday night, AEL-Limassol (the local professional team) played hosed to Eiffel Towers from Holland. It was very easy to pick out the most excited and most supportive spectators: not the fanatical followers who were drumming and chanting organized rally cries, but instead a mixture of Cypriot schoolchildren from various backgrounds behind the south basket. It was a beautiful thing to hear, and, even if PPI-CY Fellow Rory O’Neil couldn’t hear himself think, that was ok with him. The home team won in overtime 87-85 with the kids pleading to be able to come back in the future. All in all, it was a great night for PPI-CY.
The cheering didn't stop until the final buzzer.
