Star Athletes Join Campers to Play for Peace

This past Thursday, a collection of athletes from across the sports spectrum came together for the 9th annual Play for Peace program at the Seeds of Peace International Camp in Otisfield, Maine. Legendary soccer player Mia Hamm and her husband, former baseball All-Star Nomar Garciaparra, joined NBA players such as Xavier Henry, Brian Zoubek and Brian Scalabrine (participating for the eighth time), and Women's Basketball Hall of Famer Teresa Edwards to conduct sports clinics for more than 150 campers, but this wasn't your typical camp experience.

Play for Peace brings together teenagers from regions of conflict so that they can learn about each other as well as values such as teamwork and cooperation. Teenagers from different countries in the Middle East joined with Maine teens to be instructed in basketball and soccer, and the camp counselors participated as well.

Seeds of Peace, the group that organized the event, was founded in 1993 by journalist John Wallach (who passed away in 2002), and is "dedicated to empowering young leaders from regions of conflict with the leadership skills required to advance reconciliation and coexistence." What began with less than 50 teenagers has grown to more than 4,000 young people, and the group works in the Middle East and South Asia.

Play for Peace is just one part of the three-week camp in Maine, but the athletes certainly help make it special for the attendees. As Leslie Lewin, director of Seeds of Peace, noted in a press release, "These world class athletes are helping reinforce the lessons in leadership, trust, and mutual respect the teenagers are learning at Camp."

To find out more about Seeds for Peace, check out the website.

Photo by Bobbie Gottschalk courtesy of Seeds for Peace.