Novazzano, Switzerland—Twelve teams of children from southern Switzerland and nearby Italy competed in the fair-play football tournament known as the Peace Cup.
The year’s tournament, which took place on May 1, 2018, was the seventh that UPF has organized since 2011 in the town of Novazzano in the mostly Italian-speaking southern canton of Ticino. The players were all between 9 and 11 years old.
Peace Cup Switzerland has overcome many challenges through the years. This year UPF-Ticino was faced with an almost complete change of staff in the cooperating sports association of Novazzano. Happily we could experience that the fair-play values of the tournament have become a tradition, so that many people throughout the region already know us and talk about us. Even newspapers write positively about the Peace Cup, independently from the event.
The children’s tournament has a high educational goal of teaching about peaceful competition that not only aims for team prizes but rewards acts of fairness shown by the participants.
Especially remarkable was the positive and encouraging behavior of this year’s spectators, with relatives and friends spurring the children on with banners and lively sounds. We could hear cheers, horns and cowbells, but no insults! This is the reason why the Ticino cantonal government has now listed “Peace Cup by UPF-Ticino” among the initiatives for the prevention of violence.
UPF-Ticino this year began a second Peace Cup tournament that was played for the first time in March in Malnate, a small town across the border in Italy. The young players from both nations, between 11 and 13 years old, were divided into eight participating teams. As our chart of values defines, the winners of the Peace Cup Malnate were likewise selected by UPF-Ticino for their outstanding example of fair play, in accordance with the Peace Cup motto “Play football, build peace.”
Please look at our reports, videos and pictures on: www.peacecup.upf-ticino.ch
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