Community Corner

Preparations Coming Together for World Scholar-Athlete Games

Archbishop Desmond Tutu will be in West Hartford on May 21.

Organizers of the World Scholar Athlete Games are in the thick of registering participants and preparing for the games, which will take place from June 26 to July 4 mainly on the campus of the .

Founded by West Hartford resident Dan Doyle, the games include activities in 21 sports and eight artistic disciplines and are open to student ages 15 to 19. The concept, organizers say, is based on the "Olympic ideal ... that sport can be a force for understanding and friendship among athletes and among nations."

With the University of Hartford campus serving as an Olympic village of sorts, athletes from around the world will be formed into teams. "Thus, a boys basketball team might be made up of 12 young men from 12 different countries," according to a news release from the organization. More than 150 countries will be represented.

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Participants in the games will also be enrolled in the first World Youth Peace Summit, scheduled for July 1-4. The summit will allow students to engage in workshops, hear speeches and discuss peace building. Summit speakers include former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, General Colin Powell and "Three Cups of Tea" author Greg Mortenson.

Before the World Scholar-Athlete Games, Doyle's Institute for International Sport will sponsor peace walks around the world on May 21 and 22. Archbishop Demond Tutu will visit West Hartford on May 21 to serve as the grand marshal of the Connecticut Peace Walk and to bless the event. Tutu received the 1984 Nobel peace prize for his work against apartheid in South Africa.

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"The Connecticut Peace Walk will serve as the centerpiece starting at West Hartford Center at 11 a.m. and ending at Bushnell Park in Hartford," organizers said.

On May 20, Tutu will give a speech at the XL Center in Hartford, which organizers say will be his last public speaking engagement in the U.S. The speech will be followed by a performance by Branford Marsalis.

For more information ont the games and the summit, or to learn about hosting or sponsoring a World Scholar-Athlete, visit www.internationalsport.com. To register for the Peace Walk or purchase tickets for the speech, visit www.youthpeacesummit.org.


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