As we anticipated what awaited us a few minutes up the road at Orangefield High School, I think the lads from St. Joe’s shared in my mixed up and ever shifting feeling of nervous excitement with a bit of apprehension thrown in as well. The guys rapid fired some questions, talked about previous football matches they had played out here in Orangefield, asked about what their future teammates were like, as basketball players and as people. We had all been building towards this day when we would integrate the two schools since September, when we would play in the same gym and work on the same drills, when we would tangibly form this team. Despite knowing this benchmark day was scheduled and on its way, now that it actually sat in front of us, imminently poised just a few moments away, I think the whole situation became a lot more real to us, or at least to me. The foundation had been laid. Now we could really get to work.

Patrick Wright, the extraordinarily helpful and engaged PE teacher at Orangefield, had the guys limbered up and ready to play as the St. Joe’s component of the team somewhat hesitantly followed me into the basketball hall. The St. Joe’s guys left their bags and coats on the sideline benches and I blew the whistle to bring the team together.

When I deliberated on how to kick-off this first training session, I received some great advice from Mike and TJ. We talked about how the essential building-block of our program is the game of basketball itself. Through the game and the formation of a team, the guys will unavoidably come to know each other, come to trust each other, and become friends with one another at a very genuine, honest, and real level. Basketball forces you to rely and support your teammates on the court and off of it in order to ultimately achieve anything worthwhile. The intimacy of the game cannot help but translate the relationships you build within it into your life outside it. With this in mind, as the guys stood their in front of me awaiting directions, I decided to get right into it. Let’s not waste any time. Let’s play some basketball.

We mixed the guys together in three lines, started them running up and down in a three-man weave followed by a 2 v. 1 fast break on the way back. All the lads were a bit quiet and overly-polite at first, but the flow and energy that basketball necessitates of its participants overcame their initial hesitancy as the training session moved forward. Aggressive cuts to the basket were followed by timely passes and shared smiles. Jamie, one of the Orangefield guards on the team, took a liking to a behind-the-back pass that Jarius, one of the St. Joe’s point guards, threw to finish a fast-break. Next time out, Jamie executed the pass perfectly himself.

Later, we broke them into two teams, had them run through team lay-up and shooting contests, and finally got them into a controlled match as the session’s end neared. The timidity of their first few minutes together was gone, and they contested the match confidently and aggressively but without malice. It was really great to watch.

As our time ran out, we brought the guys together in the center circle of the court once again. I did my best to make a bit of an idiot of myself and get all the guys laughing, which I must say I had some success in (it comes natural). We led them through a slow but accelerating clap, and then brought all their hands in, one on top of the other. Having agreed as a team to keep the name of previous years’ St. Joe’s-Orangefield collaborations, the Belfast Blazers, on the count of three the gym echoed with a booming shout of “BLAZERS!”

The session went really well, and I can’t wait to get the Blazers back in the gym together.
Until next time, take care everyone.

- Colin

Hey everyone, this is Colin giving you another update on the program out here in Belfast.

We welcomed co-founder Mike Evans to the city this week, who has traveled over from New York and given a great boost to our staff and players. We have had great meetings with Principals, administrators, and teachers throughout the week, and Mike's presence at our coaching sessions has been even more beneficial for me. Because Mike has already been through all of this, because he has personally witnessed kids transform from nervous strangers uneasy with being on the same team to close friends taking in the sights of New York together, when he has spoken to this year's participants, you can genuinely see their eyes light up and the excitement they feel about the times to come. It was great for the guys to hear from him about all the possibilities of the coming days.

Mike also energized the kids at St. Colm's with a defensive drill involving a dive for a loose ball followed by a recovery to the paint and the taking of a charge. He enthusiastically led off the drill himself...despite being dressed in a full suit. As you might imagine, the kids got a good laugh out of that.

Next week will see St. Joe's and Orangefield come together for the first time...I'm starting to get the butterflies already, but I'm looking forward to taking this major step. I'll be sure to give a lengthy description on the blog of how those sessions proceed.

Until then, take care everyone.

- Colin

Hey everyone, this is Colin keeping you up to date on our work here in the increasingly wintry Belfast.
The coaching sessions have been really, really positive this week. Monday I was thrilled to welcome back a few guys at Orangefield who had been MIA recently after leading the way for their classmates during my PE sessions there. I hadn’t seen them the past couple of weeks because of some unavoidable circumstances (Halloween, the gas explosion last week, and a scheduling conflict resulting from a football match during mid-October). Nonetheless, they were keen as ever Monday afternoon and are going to be great additions to the program. The group is certainly coming together.
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After everything we’ve gone through, it finally felt like we were getting some momentum over at St. Colm’s on Tuesday. Working with the kids back to back weeks has provided genuine traction for the basketball we are teaching and the relationships we are building with one another. The guys all pushed through my not-so-fun but necessary ball handling, shooting, and lay-up drill work before getting after it and competing hard in some controlled scrimmage work. It’s a really cool group of guys.
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The intensity, enthusiasm, and level of play were up to its usual high standard at St. Joe’s this afternoon. Following weeks of pleading, I finally let the guys get into a proper game, rotating three different five man teams. The stronger players did a nice job of distributing the ball and kept the match-ups from deteriorating into 1 v. 1 with eight other guys watching (I had fears of the games imitating the NBA of the late 1990s and early 2000s, with low-block isolation plays for the likes of Larry Johnson, etc. For the hoopheads out there, you know the plays I’m referencing: when LJ would square up against his man and pass the ball between his legs anywhere from nine to eleven times as the shot-clock ticked down and down and down). Thankfully, the ball was shared and moved up and down the court with pace and purpose at St. Joe’s.
We’re on to Dunmurry tomorrow before lunch, always an energizer for me as a coach. I’ll check in again later this week.

Take care

Hey everyone, this is Colin again detailing the day to day here in Belfast.

The first week back after the mid-term break offered some new surprises. A gas explosion in the vicinity of Orangefield High forced the evacuation of all the students there and at Grovesnor Secondary School, as well as the residents of the adjoining neighborhood. It was unfortunate this accident transpired, but our relationships with the students and with PE teacher Patrick Wright are very strong at Orangefield. We were in frequent contact, and despite this hiccup, all parties are well prepared and excited for a resumption of basketball next week.

Tuesday of this week also witnessed our return to St. Colm's and our after-school basketball program there. Despite everything that has gone at this Twinbrook school and all the recent disruptions because of the bomb scares, the guys still showed up prepared and ready to play come 3:15 (except for the few who forgot their kits...c'mon guys don't leave home without your runners!). It was great fun working with them again, and the weeks ahead look only more promising. Many thanks to Diane Brennan for helping keep the kids organized after all the travails that have come our way.

Huge crowds were again biting at the chomp to play at St. Joe's, and everything at Dunmurry looks to be right on track as well. We may have to take one more in-school PE session next week at Dunmurry as Mark Watson's (our primary aid there) family has just welcomed a new-born child into the family and he understandably has had a hard time scheduling to stay after-school. Nonetheless, there's always a great crew of guys waiting to play at Dunmurry, no matter what time of the day.

Also, we'll try and get some photos of the kids in action posted for next week.

Until next time, take care everyone.


- Colin

Welcome to the Full Court Peace Coaches' Blog, where you can read about our daily work uniting Catholics and Protestants through basketball in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Hi, this is TJ Reynolds checking in for my first time here. I was hoping that for my first post I would have something groundbreaking to report on. I now wish I had documented some of our Full Court Peace’s recent developments here in Belfast more thoroughly and didn’t have to lead with what turned out to be one of the sadder events I have witnessed since I came to Belfast over a year ago.

This past Sunday, November 2, I walked down to the city centre with a couple of friends to check out the homecoming parade for the troops returning from tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sinn Fein had planned a protest in response claiming that it was inappropriate to mark the homecoming because British troops were responsible for the deaths of Catholic civilians during the Troubles.

As we made our way through the city centre towards Great Victoria Street, the tension was palpable. Union (British) flags were being waved proudly and people began to climb the scaffolding from construction sites. The sightseeing buses that usually flood Great Victoria Street had been replaced by a fleet of armoured police Land Rovers.
The thousands of loyalists in attendance started singing pro-British songs and chanting at the republican protestors. The protestors, for the most part it seemed, remained silent, holding placards in the air accusing the army of involvement in the killing of Catholic civilians during the Troubles. When the protestors moved forward into position, just before the parade was about to pass, the loyalists made a bit of a surge that drew several lines of policemen in full riot gear out of the armoured Land Rovers. Bottles, fireworks, and even part of the scaffolding on which they were standing began to be thrown at the police and protesters. There was a good ten minutes of shouting and chanting from the loyalist supporters and it looked as if tensions may boil over into something much worse.

The police were able to keep everyone at bay and clear the path as the parade marched through. It only took a few minutes for the 250 or so military personnel to pass and then the loyalists turned their attention back to the protesters. The chanting picked up again and more fireworks and such were thrown until all the republicans were headed back towards the Falls Road.

The incident happened right down the street from the Grand Opera House and the Europa Hotel, which is famous for being the most bombed hotel in Europe. During the Troubles, the provisional IRA bombed the Europa over thirty times. Consequently, no one was willing to invest in construction projects on a grand scale in Belfast for fear of having their investment literally blown up. Recent construction projects like Victoria Square are a testament to the change that has happened in Belfast since the end of the Troubles. Unfortunately, when you just scratch the surface old tensions rise quickly. Sunday was a step backwards. The skyline may be changing, but on the ground things didn’t look much different.