Sport in Society junior coaches attend the World Scholar-Athlete Games
(8-1-06) BOSTON, Mass. - In 1993, the Institute for International Sport created an opportunity for selected high school students to participate in a community where physical activity, scholarship, and culture could be celebrated. Thirteen years later, 5,500 young scholar athletes from 186 countries (including all 50 states) have participated in the World Scholar-Athlete Games.
Anthony Garcia, a 17 year-old junior at North Cambridge Catholic, and Maria Centeio, a 16 year-old junior at Latin Academy, are two graduates from the Northeastern University�s Center for the Study of Sport in Society�s Urban Youth Sports Programs� Junior Coaches Academy who were selected to participate in the World Scholar�Athlete Games at the University of Rhode Island from June 24-July 2, 2006.
�When I first arrived, everyone I met was friendly. I now have friends from California, Ireland, Mozambique, and Israel,� said Centeio. Centeio and Garcia were among 2,000 young scholars from 50 states and 175 countries, in grades nine through 10, who excel in either athletics or the fine arts.
�The missions of the games and the Junior Coaches Academy are similar because both use the topics of sport, friendship, and accessibility to develop as curriculum to empower leadership,� said Tracey Britton, program assistant in Urban Youth Sport Program at Sport in Society.
The World Scholar-Athlete Games is a week-long event. Each day students are given a new issue involving sport in specialize in their individualized sport to discuss. The objective of the games is to promote understanding, acceptance and friendship among youth; establish open, non-political, long-standing relationships; and utilizes the sports and the arts as means of communication and working strategies.
Garicia, who excels in basketball, played with athletes from across the United States and Chile. Centeio participated in a soccer tournament, which commemorated each country�s participation in the World Cup. Centeio was selected to participate on team Nigeria with players from St. Kitts, Ireland, Finland, and the United States.
These young athletes also had the opportunity to meet with and hear speeches made by President Bill Clinton, Attorney General Patrick Lynch, Alex Wolff, and other world-renowned public figures on Theme Days. On these days, participants were placed into breakout groups to discuss controversial issues surrounding the topics of education, fair play, war and peace, sport, and the environment.
�Bill O�Reilly�s talk was the most interesting because it was straight forward and caused much discussion in the audience and in the break out groups,� remarked Centeio.
�This experience was an opportunity to be exposed to how people view experiences differently and recognize one�s similirities with someone from another part of the world,� stated Garcia.
About the Center for the Study of Sport in Society
The Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University is the world�s leading social justice organization that uses sport to create social change both nationally and internationally. The flagship organization located in the heart of Boston, Mass. was founded in 1984 by Dr. Richard Lapchick and touts branches in Baltimore, Md. and Phoenix, Ariz. Through research, education, and advocacy the center promotes physical activity, health, violence prevention, and diversity among young people and college and professional athletes. Sport in Society�s innovative programs are all staffed by former college or professional athletes and have been awarded America�s most successful violence prevention program by Lou Harris, the Peter F. Ducker Award as the most innovative non-profit program in the social sector, and have been cited as the National Crime Prevention Council�s 50 Best Strategies to Prevent Violent Domestic Crimes. For more information please visit http://www.sportinsociety.org.
