Something to remember – for life

Something to remember - for life

Our tournament is now well under way and the arrangement is even better than last year. Which isn’t that strange, I suppose, since last year was our first.  We were rookies then - but we’ve got references now. The key is that we’re taking our concept to the next step.

We had an evaluation at the end of MTG United for Peace tournament in 2010 where we went through what went well and what could be improved. And this year everything has gone swimmingly well so far; a lot of people involved have told me they think the tournament is even better this year. Last year MTG United for Peace came together due to initiatives from different people in different places, this year we’ve tried to incorporate it more into our organisation, to MTG.

Our dream for the many legs of the tournament is to turn each and every one of them into something truly amazing, something special. Something the children will treasure for years to come. Because at the end of the day, there’s only one team from each country that will win and go on to represent their country in Norway in the autumn finals. So, for most teams taking part, the tournament in their country is their big experience. And we want that experience to be something worth remembering, something they will treasure!

The recent tournament in Lithuania had all of the ingredients we were hoping for and it proved to be a great celebration, full of fun for everyone involved. The children, who represented 20 different orphanages, met a lot of celebrities during their matches, they visited the zoo, the cinema and they got entertained by a lot of different people. It’s clear to see that it will be a great memory for the kids, whether they won the football tournament or not.

The organisation of the tournament in Hungary was also great, with lots of gifts for the competitors and a chance to play against a celebrity team made up by reality TV stars. In London the football mad children had the opportunity to get inspired by a famous footballer and receive some tip on how to improve their own skills. We’ve also just arranged one of two tournaments for competitors from Norway.

The winning teams can look forward to a truly amazing weekend when they arrive in Oslo for the finals this autumn. I’ve just had meetings with the Nobel Peace Centre in Norway and their School of Tolerance. We’ve decided that the topic for the interactive lectures this autumn will be “refugees”. The children will learn what it was like to be a refugee back in the old days and today. They will also be inspired by the life of Fridtjof Nansen, a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat and humanitarian who received The Nobel Peace Prize in 1922 for his work with refugees. A truly inspirational man!