An Iraqi girls’ basketball team and its coaches participated in a basketball camp at Tennessee as part of a program to promote peace and cultural understanding through sports.

The players arrived in Washington, D.C., on June 3 and spent several days in the nation’s capital.  The team visited a local high school, assisted with a youth soccer program for mentally and physically disabled children, toured the Smithsonian and attended a WNBA Washington Mystics vs. Atlanta Dream game. While at the game team members met former Lady Vol and current Dream player Chamique Holdsclaw

While attending Pat Summitt’s basketball camp in Knoxville, the girls toured the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the Smoky Mountain area. The team includes 10 girls ages 14-16 representing different regions, religions and ethnicities in Iraq. The participants were chosen based on leadership, positive attitudes and a desire to promote peace through sport.

The trip is sponsored by Sport 4 Peace, a women’s sport development partner for Global Sports Partners, and its “Iraq to America” project. Next month, Sport 4 Peace will conduct its second annual basketball camp for girls, women and coaches in Iraq. SportsUnited, a programming initiative of the U.S. State Department, also assisted with the trip.

Former Tennessee students Sarah Hillyer and Ashleigh Huffman work with Sport 4 Peace, traveling around the world conducting camps and researching the impact of sport, specifically in conflict areas. The organization is committed to providing sporting opportunities for girls and women in the Middle East, North Africa, and East and Central Asia.

In 2008, Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt recorded a message for the camps in Iraq.