Iraqi girls take part in Lady Vols’ basketball camp

An Iraqi girls’ basketball team took part in a Tennessee Lady Vols basketball camp last week as part of a program promoting peace and cultural understanding through sports.

Under Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi National Women’s Basketball Team was dismantled and the number of girls playing plummeted. In the mid 1980s, Saddam’s son, Uday, “revived” the National Olympic programs but he was known to commit horrific acts of torture against athletes who did not placate his obsession to win. As a result, the vast majority of girls and women stopped playing sports altogether.

Sport 4 Peace , which was co-founded in 1994 by Steve DeVoss and UT doctoral student Sarah Hillyer, a former basketball player at Virginia Tech,  hope to bring Iraqi women back to the sport.  According to Hillyer, the idea to bring the girls to UT came when the group was conducting a basketball camp in connection with Global Sports Partners in Iraq last year.

They had taken some basketballs from the Lady Vols, and Pat Summitt – the winningest coach in college history -  videotaped an inspirational message for them.

During a session, the camp leaders asked the Iraqi players to write down their dreams on index cards.

“Every kid said my dream is to visit the USA, attend a WNBA game and to meet Coach Summitt and to thank her,” said Hillyer.

The 10 girls, ages 14-16, were selected based upon leadership qualities, a positive attitude, and a spirit of solidarity. The team, along with three coaches,  arrived in Washington, D.C. and spent a couple days in the nation’s capital before heading to Knoxville.  Per their wish list, they even attended a Washington Mystics-Atlanta Dream WNBA game.

Although many of the girls – who represent a diversity of Iraqi geographic regions and religious beliefs – are still fine-tuning their skills as they learn the game, they won over a few hearts during their time on the Tennessee campus.

Among those impressed with their aggressive style of play has been Summitt.

One of the Iraqi coaches told the media the experience has been meaningful. A couple of the girls said they had been educated watching the other campers and how they play as a team, how they talk on the court, how they pass and how they move.

Off the court, the girls have also learned plenty, especially regarding American food – which they described as different but good.

So, will some of these girls be playing for the Iraqi women’s basketball team during the 2012 Olympic Summer Games? Don’t count them out.