Friendship Games: Podcasts
By Julia Karron, Joe Malandruccolo and Chloe Pavlech
Reporters Julia Karron, Joe Malandruccolo and Chloe Pavlech share their experiences from the 2018 Friendship Games in Eilat, Israel, an international basketball tournament dedicated to creating cultural connections through sport.
Podcast: Diplomacy through sport
The trio talk about their travel to Eilat, the lack of media coverage at the Games and the culture and camaraderie inspired by the tournament.
“I think it’s great how basically one round orange ball can bring so many different types of people together, whether that be different backgrounds, different cultures, different religions,” Pavlech says.
Karron, Malandruccolo and Pavlech talk with Ronit Odom, the attache for German team at the Friendship Games.
While the Oklahoma native does not speak German, she is an avid traveler who speaks English, Hebrew, Swahili and Dutch, so she appreciates the unique cultural exchange facilitated by the Games—on and off the court.
Throughout the Games, Odom has watched a love of music build bridges across cultural and lingual divides as players dance and sing together.
“I find that really interesting, the sharing of culture and joy through music,” Odom said. “It’s not something that’s happening on the court, but it’s something this program is allowing to happen.”
Reporter Julia Karron speaks with Matt Letkeman, a Canadian playing for the Palestinian basketball team at the 2018 Friendship Games in Eilat, Israel.
The former University of Calgary basketball player takes us through his journey to the Games, his experiences at the tournament and his perspective as a master’s degree student in conflict resolution.
“We lost every game, so that was interesting, but it was incredible,” Letkeman said. “It was a lot of fun, and a very interesting experience culturally. You really some of the dynamics of what’s going on at a deeper level.”
The event’s organizers sponsored student coverage of the Friendship Games. Editorial control of the coverage and content remained with the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism and the Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
