From our friends at the Peres Center for Peace.

For the first time, the Peres Center in partnership with the Al Quds Association for Democracy and Dialogue, held a Mini World Cup tournament for girls – called ‘I Can Kick Too’. The tournament, sponsored by adidas, was held in cooperation with Athena – an organization that promotes sport amongst women, and the Israel Football Association.

The tournament was conducted in the spirit of the FIFA Women’s World Cup to be held in Berlin this summer. Each team – many made up of Israeli and Palestinian girls who have been playing together throughout the year under the auspices of our Twinned Peace Sports Schools program, represented one of 16 countries that will compete this summer in Berlin. The girls showed amazing professionalism and teamwork, especially considering many come from communities where girls are not encouraged to play football or participate in any sporting activities.

After the tournament all the girls went together to watch the final match of the Israeli Women’s Cup – a unique chance to learn from their idols. The highlight of the day for many of the girls was the opportunity to go on the pitch during half time to collect their trophies – both for the winning teams and of course those who showed the most Fair Play and teamwork.

The day was an overwhelming success, and we very much hope to work with our partners and supporters to continue to promote girls participation in sports and to show that sport truly can break down any barriers.