PeacePlayers International - Middle East Arbinger Training

August 13th-17th, 2009

Jerusalem and Tel Aviv

PeacePlayers International’s local coaches are the pillar of our work with young people. The primary teachers of PPI’s conflict resolution curriculum and positive role models for our participants, a PeacePlayers International Coach's impact extends far beyond basketball, and training is crucial to their effectiveness. To prepare for a program-wide training to take place in October, seven senior Arab and Jewish coaches from PeacePlayers International - Middle East (PPI - ME) recently had the chance to hone their teaching skills in an intensive seminar led by Dr. Chad Ford, a professor of conflict resolution at Brigham Young University Hawaii and a senior writer for ESPN.com. The seminar was made possible by a generous three-year grant from the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which is enabling PeacePlayers International to continue developing its curriculum, with the eventual goal of creating a technical assistance program.

Guided by the Anatomy of Peace, a philosophy of conflict resolution developed by the Arbinger Institute, the seminar deepened the coaches' understanding of the ideas behind PPI’s work and added some new tools to PPI – ME’s on-the-court conflict resolution curriculum. It began on August 13th with four days in the classroom, where Dr. Ford helped the coaches explore their personal experiences with conflict and its causes, and turn those experiences into lessons that could illustrate The Anatomy of Peace to PPI - ME participants. The Anatomy of Peace, the philosophical foundation of PPI’s conflict resolution methodology, encourages participants to look beyond blame to discover ways they can proactively create more peaceful relationships.

Next, Dr. Ford met with PPI – ME’s Basketball Operations Manager Vito Gilic to create and refine new drills to help illustrate those lessons on the basketball court. These lessons, which integrate tested conflict resolution techniques based on the Anatomy of Peace into regular basketball activities, serve as the core of the PeacePlayers International Peacebuilding Curriculum. Chad was thrilled to find that Vito’s wheels had been turning, and that he came prepared with numerous creative drills that PPI – ME could use in the future.

The coaches are looking forward to demonstrating their new skills to the rest of the PeacePlayers International – Middle East staff and a group of 30 Arab and Jewish young leaders in October, at the PPI – ME overnight training retreat. With the support of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, PPIwill continue to hone its curriculum throughout its current operational year, before fully instituting it in all of its locations the next. By 2012, Laureus' support will allow PPI to teach its model to other sport-for-good organizations all over the world.