Reflections and new beginnings

As we approach the new year and look forward to 2021, our thoughts turn to new beginnings and new possibilities. And after almost two and a half years leading PLAY International’s work in Kosovo and the Western Balkans, it is also time for me, and the mission, to anticipate new beginnings. I am delighted therefore to be handing over the Head of Mission role to Sara Kalvachova who will build on the amazing work that PLAY does in the region.

Closing a chapter is also a great time for reflection and I have been giving some thought to this as I have said my goodbyes to the talented and dedicated team I have been privileged to work alongside in the past few years. So, in this spirit of reflection, I would like to offer my perspective on the role of PLAY International’s sport-based approaches in the development of Kosovo and its neighbours.

Inter-ethnic youth work has been the foundation of PLAY's success in the Western Balkans

It was clear to me when I arrived in Kosovo in 2018 that PLAY’s work since 1999, primarily with young men and women from different backgrounds, had already established it as a trusted and serious organisation addressing some of the most challenging issues facing communities around the region. The fact that there are so many people from all communities who feel so strongly about the positive impact that PLAY has had on them and those around them, was a constant reminder about the value of its work. Our 20th anniversary interviews in 2019 (which you can find in the “Notes” area of our Facebook page) were one such example of this.

Our 20th anniversary interviews gave a fantastic insight into
PLAY's impact on people's lives over the years

The challenge for PLAY, which is also articulated in its 2019-2025 strategy, is to bring the benefits of active and inclusive educational techniques to a much wider audience. To convince donors, partners, participants, beneficiaries and other stakeholders that using physical activity as a mainstream educational lever to unlock some of society’s most intractable and entrenched issues, is indeed a great challenge in itself. I have always been struck that those PLAY works with are immediately converted to the transformational value of the pedagogical methods we use and share. But I have been equally struck by the scale of the work that the sport for development sector still needs to do to take a more central, significant and important role in supporting countries and societies to create the changes they desire.

PLAY has been working with pre-service teachers at the University of Hasan Prishtina since 2019

I have been encouraged however, during my time in Kosovo, that the seeds of securing this greater role for active educational methods have been sown. The support of donors such as the Agence Française de Développement and the Austrian Development Agency in PLAY’s education and social cohesion work, has given the Kosovo Mission a metaphorical “foot in the door” into the kind of sustainable, large scale and deeply impactful role that it has always had the potential to do. Through new partnerships in higher education to train tomorrow’s teachers, contributions to Kosovo’s new education curriculum, a role as an approved training provider for in-service teachers and a formal partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science, I leave Kosovo with a strong hope that these seeds will take root. With continued the support of the donor community and strong local partnerships with key stakeholders, I am certain that PLAY’s ability to transform educational outcomes for children, youth and education professionals in the Western Balkans will come to fruition in the years ahead.

Andrew has been Head of Mission at
PLAY Kosovo since mid-2018. In this photo
he is securing a new partnership with the
Faculty of Education at the University of
Prishtina in 2019.