A dozen Iraqi girls basketball players are attending the University of Tennessee Lady Vols basketball camp as part of a program designed to promote peace through sports.
The trip was sponsored by Sport 4 Peace/Global Sports Partners and SportsUnited, an international sports programming initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Sport 4 Peace, co-founded in 1994 by Steve DeVoss and University of Tennessee doctoral student Sarah Hillyer, is the leading women’s sport development partner for Global Sports Partners.
In 2005, Tennessee doctoral student Ashleigh Huffman joined the Sport 4 Peace staff as assistant researcher and assistant camp director.
Following the “Iraq to America” project, Sport 4 Peace will return to Iraq in July 2009 to hold the second annual basketball camp for girls, women, and coaches.
The idea to host the girls was born after Sport 4 Peace conducted an Olympic basketball training camp for girls and women in Sulaimaniya, Iraq, last July.
Upon returning to Knoxville, Sport 4 Peace drafted a proposal to bring a team of aspiring Iraqi girls basketball players to Pat Summitt’s Basketball Camp.
