Home > Forum > Articles > January, 2011 > Breaking down the communication barrier: Program supports young Turkish athletes

Breaking down the communication barrier: Program supports young Turkish athletes

Related Topics (3)

More related topics

January 9, 2011
Capt. Brooke Davis Public Affairs

ANKARA, Turkey – Language can be a barrier for diplomacy, friendships and basic communications, but for a particular volunteer at a Turkish sports training school in Ankara, there is no language in sports.

Major Liz Edwards, a staff member of the Office of Defense Cooperation-Turkey, or ODC, is a volunteer who can appreciate the barrier of languages after being stationed in Turkey twice.

“There is no common language except in sports … it doesn’t matter that the spoken languages are different, it’s just sports and you can understand that,” she said.

Major Edwards volunteers to help out with a local sports club, Ego Spor, once a week, and was inspired to develop a holiday donation program to help support the athletes with donated athletic gear. The items were distributed to the athletes in January.

Ego Spor is a world class sports club that identifies and trains Turkish children, grooming them for eventual participation on Turkish National, and possibly Turkish Olympic, teams, according to one of the school’s coaches, Yasin Gülgan.

“Many of these boys and girls, ranging in ages from 6 to 18 years old, come from poor, underprivileged backgrounds,” said Major Edwards. “I started the donation program based on conversations that I had with the kids and knowing that their families were very poor.”

Donated items included shoes, workout suits, t-shirts, warm-up jackets and sports equipment for basketball and soccer. While not related to sports, members from the ODC community also extensively donated items for infants and young children.

For some at the ODC who donated items, it was hearing about the condition of some of the athletes’ clothing and sports gear that inspired them to support the program.

“It was very hard to hear that some of those kids did not have proper equipment ... I think at one point, Major Edwards told me a girl had duck tape keeping her shoes together,” said Maj. Sharon Ritchie, an ODC member who was stationed here recently.

Major Ritchie donated several items, including shoes, which were a huge hit with the athletes.

Major Edwards observed that the athletes never complained once about the sports gear they had to compete with, but as the donations were passed out, it became apparent the athletes were very grateful, and in some cases, overwhelmed. One athlete wiped away tears after receiving a Nike running shirt.

Yasin, who is also a professional Turkish oil wrestler, explained that he was trained by a famous Turkish coach in the discus field event, so now it is his turn to train young athletes. He is also finishing a university degree in sports training at Gazi University in Ankara.

“In Turkey, we train the kids so that when they grow older, they’re able to pass on their training to younger kids and so forth,” he explained.

Yasin is a tough yet caring and compassionate coach. When passing out the donations, he hesitates to give a pair of black and white Nike warm-up pants to one of the young athletes. Major Edwards whispers that the athlete was overheard by another athlete talking about not caring about missing practice a few days ago. Nonetheless, he goes ahead and gives her the warm-up pants with the stern yet caring words of a dedicated coach.

Along with helping to organize the holiday donation program for Ego Spor, Major Edwards orchestrated an outing to a local mall for the athletes. The outing was also supported by several other volunteers from the ODC.

“This was the first time many of the athletes had set foot in a mall. They loved the video games, but when it came to eating, they didn’t want to try American food like Arby’s,” she laughed. “They just wanted Turkish food.”

The athletes will continue their training three to four times a week during the winter months where temperatures can get down to 30 degrees.

“In February, they will start competing and so far, all of the athletes have improved,” Yasin said while turning back to the athletes to provide instruction on proper form and technique.

Many people stationed in Turkey walk away with lifelong friends, and the hospitality of both cultures fosters athleticism in their youth. While the athletes’ dedication inspired Major Edwards to initiate the holiday donation program and others to participate, the donations made by ODC members here far exceeded her expectations.

The ODC is part of the U.S. European Command, and one of the objectives of EUCOM is to foster and continue to build partnerships in the region to ensure that we are “Stronger Together.”

“Outreach programs like the holiday donation program helped foster and strengthen U.S. and Turkish relations on a local level here,” said Maj. Gen. Stanley Clarke III, Senior Defense Official and Defense Attaché. “Not only did the program help local athletes, but by reaching out in support of the local community here, it also helped strengthen the friendship between our two nations.”
 

Find more articles tagged with:

Comments: 0

Your comment: