Slam dunk for empowerment at basketball fest

BRETTONWOOD High School learner and Umbilo resident, Paris Louis, was among some 200 learners competing at the PeacePlayers Girls’ Basketball Festival on Saturday, March 12. Held at the University of KwaZulu Natal sports hall, the festival returned after Covid-19 restrictions prevented the gathering for two years.

Now a matric learner, Louis is one of 20 learners in the PeacePlayers Leadership Development Programme (LDP) who have been selected to compete at the Friendship Games in the Middle East this year.

She joined PeacePlayers South Africa when she was in Grade 4 at Glenmore Primary School.

“PeacePlayers came to our school to hold trials. During our PE (physical education) lesson we had a chance to play around with a basketball. I realised I was good at it and that it was something I really enjoyed, so I tried out for the PeacePlayers team. In Grade 7 I became the team captain. I tried out for the team again at Brettonwood High School and in 2019 I was one of 30 learners selected to join LDP,” she said.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Girls’ basketball fest highlights International Women’s Day

Louis was selected as team captain again in 2020 and vice captain in 2021. This year she captains her team once again. PeacePlayers operates in several countries, including USA, Northern Ireland, Middle East, Cypress and South Africa. While LDP clubs would not usually interact with members across the globe, the rise of video conferencing under the Covid-19 pandemic saw learners like Louis logging onto Zoom to interact with PeacePlayers abroad.

Dr Alison Misselhorn, executive director of PeacePlayers SA said the upcoming trip to the Middle East offers participants an opportunity to grow their leadership skills.

“We foster global relations between the participants. The overarching aim is to facilitate life skills and learning through basketball, using sport as a tool to bridge the divides and encourage diversity,” she said.

Misselhorn said they encourage intersections between races, cultures, socio-economic groups and genders, as a platform for equity and development. “We encourage children to be able to see people as people, irrespective of backgrounds and persepctives. This happens on the basketball court so effectively,” she said.

Empowering women

Coinciding with International Women’s Day on March 8, the Girls’ Basketball Festival aimed to empower girls through sport with learners from Port Shepstone to Pietermaritzburg taking part.

“It’s pivotal for PeacePlayers to address women empowerment, women in leadership and conflict resolution. We see women as playing a critical part in that. By promoting sport in schools, and basketball in particular, we’ve seen the effect it has on girls – they grow into women who can lead their communities and be an example to fellow learners,” said Misselhorn

“We teach basketball from a young age and learners then have the opportunity to transition into our leadership programme. We include mentorship and life skills training across our programmes. There are a lot of leadership opportunities that come up for learners,” she added.

ALSO READ: ‘Once you start you won’t want to stop,’ says bowls member

Sihle Ngubane from the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Sports and Recreation works in the department’s community sports promotion and development unit.

“The department has come on board to support Peace Players in enrolling basket ball programmes with a special emphasis on life skills, education and using sport as a tool to develop youth through this programme,” he said.

Ngubane added that sport is an effective tool to curb substance use in youth.

Do you want to receive alerts regarding this and other Highway community news via Telegram? Send us a Telegram message (not an SMS) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5409. You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.