Street sport

Street sport is a project organized by the Cross Cultures Project Association (CCPA), Copenhagen. Since 1998 CCPA is working to promote and develop grassroots sports, which is characterized by its strong local focus, egalitarian principles, voluntarism, parent support
and the basic principles of "Sports for all".

 

Street sport initiative is motivated by the needs among children and youth when whole communities have been driven from their homes and daily lives thrown into turmoil due to war or conflict. Their new existence on mattresses supplied by emergency aid organizations, the endless waiting, the daily worries and the unsettling sense of an uncertain future are stressful to all. Projects are needed that set up games and activities, especially for children and young people, as an alternative to the pervasive insecurity and restlessness. Games and spaces where children and adolescents and adults alike can reclaim control and take charge of their own lives.

It is important that such projects also benefit the local communities, for two reasons. One is that emergency aid is mostly channelled to those immediately affected by war and conflict - while the local host community may be strongly impacted by the situation as well. The other is that frequently refugees, those displaced or returnees alike often occupy public areas like gyms and sport arenas, which means that the local people cannot play sports as they used to.

It is our hope that the Street Sport project will help children, young people and adults to play and have fun together so as to provide meeting places and a tool that may help counter some of the disintegrative forces owing to displacement and war. We try to do this by recruiting, training and organizing what we call Streetmasters, each of whom receives a bag with a complete sports and games kit. The kit also includes a Street Sport manual that shows how small sports arenas can be set up and how the equipment provided may be used to organize games in new and entertaining ways.

Street sport is a magic recipe for do-it-yourself kids of all ages: anyone can play, anywhere, anytime. Street Sport is also Fair Play. The participants agree to the game and the rules, and they respect each other regardless of ability, gender, size, social standing and faith.

 

Street Sport and the manual are not intended exclusively for those whose daily life has been uprooted in the world's trouble spots. It may be used by anyone who likes to play games.