GAME • PLAYMAKERS AS INTERNATIONAL ADVOCATES
Beijing Design Week • Ghetto Games conference in Latvia • The People's Democratic Festival in Denmark • Launch of GAME in Jordan • ‘Youth in Development’ conference in Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Denmark.
PLAYMAKERS ARE THE BEST GAME AMBASSADORS GAME’s Playmakers are young volunteers that run weekly street sports activities for kids in underserved neighborhoods. But they are also the best advocates for youth when civil society, governments and private sector gather to solve challenges in the world. In GAME it is important to talk with youth and not about youth on their role in creating a better world. This is why GAME’s Playmakers often are on stage when GAME is invited to talk about youth leadership and youth involvement. Youth is very engaged and possess significant change making resources. According to GAME’s CEO Simon Prahm, it’s important to listen to and involve them. "We always try to open up the opportunity to have our Playmakers contributing when GAME is invited to participate in conferences around the world. Because they ARE GAME! At the end of the day, the best way to make people understand what our activities are all about is to hear from the people who make them happen," says Simon Prahm. In September 2018 GAME was invited by Copenhagen Municipality to participate in Beijing Design Week in China, to talk about how street sports can be used to strengthen the social fabric in the urban design of a city. Simon Prahm was accompanied by Rodwan Aden and Marianne Hjort - two of GAME’s dedicated Playmakers. YOUNGER THAN THE OTHERS
Though GAME’s Playmakers are often younger and less experienced than other speakers at conferences Simon Prahm never doubts that they are the best GAME ambassadors. "Rodwan and Marianne who joined me in Beijing were considerably younger than the rest of the participants, but they wowed everyone and made people listen," Simon Prahm explains about the Playmakers’ role. "During the day they put on sports activities 22
for the local Chinese kids out on the asphalt and during the evening they participated in panel debates and networking events, telling their stories to an international crowd of professionals. They really hit the mark. Through the five-day design week, they were sought out by many people who wanted to ask them about the volunteer work they did, about the impact of GAME and about what they like about GAME," Simon Prahm says.
Clara Lyng Bloch and Vinh Quang Nguyen are GAME Playmakers. In November 2018, they participated in the Ghetto Games conference in Riga, Latvia to talk about how youth-led street sports can make a social change in underserved neighborhoods.
Souhail Benaouisse Abdeddaim is a Playmaker in Denmark. At ‘The People's Democratic Festival’ he participated in several debates on volunteerism, youth leadership and on how we bring more youth into sports communities.
