Don’t fret if you don’t have a team in advance.  You can register as an individual and find a team when you arrive. We’ll keep spots open, but remember that team registration closes at 1:45!

What: NYSSC Summer Flip Cup Tournament

Where: Boss Tweeds: 115 Essex Street (between Rivington and Delancey), New York, NY

When: Saturday, 17 May 2008 from 2 – 5pm

Bring: 3 friends to form a team of 4!  Entrance fee is $30 per person and benefits… you know who!

Click through to REGISTER and learn more about flip cup, NYSSC and ways to invite your friends!

Don’t forget to register

Register your team online before the fun starts on the 17th!  Visit the NYCSSC registration page to sign-up your team for the flip cup tournament: https://login.ezfacility.com/APP/OnlineRegistrations/Register.aspx?CompanyID=618&GroupID=37304.

More details about the tournament

Teams of 4 – $30 each player includes Bud Light from 2-5pm.
Teams can be co-ed or single gender.

Team check-in begins at 1:30pm, games begin at 2pm.   All teams must be
present by 1:45 pm to get on the game schedule.

3 games in a match. 3 matches guaranteed for each team. 
Top 8 teams advance to a Finals Bracket.

Not a fan of beer?  Hate competition?  Join us anyway!

Even if your not up for the friendly flip-cup tournie come out for the fun. You can cheer on your favorite team and consider making a donation directly to the Kids in Burundi Football Fund.

Invite your friends on facebook

Visit our events page on facebook and find teammates (you can do that here in the comments section too!).

What is Flip Cup?

Flip Cup is a team-based drinking relay race. In front of each teammate is a cup filled with beer. A player and her opponent should have the same amount of beer. At the start of the race, the first member of each team drinks his or her beverage. When finished, the cup is placed right-side up at the edge of the table and the player tries to flip it upside down onto the table. If he or she is not successful on the first try, the cup must be reset and re-flipped. Only after the first teammate successfull flips the cup may the next person proceed. The team that drinks and flips all of its cups first wins (via Wikipedia, of course).

Thanks NYSSC!

Thanks to the folks at the NYC Social Sports Club for picking this little project to support!  They organize fun social sports in New York. It’s a social club for schoolyard games and co-ed teams. Check them out and join an inner-tube water polo team or revisit middle school kickball humiliation.

Lastly…

Wish Zoya a Happy Birthday!  She played a big role in making this happen and is sharing her b-day with everyone who comes out for flip cup and Kids in Burundi! 

If you’re Norwegian, join us in your funny hats and pre-game (or will it be post-game by 14:00?) for Burundi.  Celebrate the fact that Norway recently opened an embassy in Burundi and is leading calls for peacebuilding there!

Visit the FIFA Burundi site and learn more about the national teams and the GOAL Programme! If you have any information on the Burundi Women’s National Team, leave a note in the comments.

Dear friends,

As I’ve told many of you, I had a really great experience meeting a lot of my organization’s NGO partners in Burundi on my recent trip. My organization (IGP) has partnered with some local civil society groups in Burundi to advocate for greater international attention to peacebuilding in Burundi and the Great Lakes region. While we are mostly working on high-level policy issues having to do with the United Nations, I had the privilege while in Burundi to travel outside of the capital and meet with community based organizations and individuals making a difference at a very local level. I was really impressed with a number of the initiatives they are undertaking to support economic and social development, as well as reconciliation.

As a little background, these groups are working in a pretty tough environment.  After a brutal civil war that involved a lot of ethnic violence and widespread displacement, local communities (with a bit of help from the international community) are really working quite hard at rebuilding their villages and engaging in reconciliation activities. Despite these efforts, Burundi is still ranked 167th out of 175 countries in the Human Development Index. In one of the provinces I visited, they are also facing the return of many refugees in the coming months which will stretch resources and likely involve increased tension between groups.

We are working with the UN system and major donors to advocate for resources to support a lot of this peacebuilding work in Burundi, but I was particularly moved to try to help one individual with a personal mission on a much smaller scale.  I met Jerome during two of my visits to Ruyigi province, which is an area in the hills near the border with Tanzania. He is a young, incredibly energetic man who was recently elected council chief for his village. This is really remarkable because most council chiefs are village elders and known for their resistance to change. He has been actively engaging young people in his and neighboring villages in sports activity, notably soccer and traditional dance groups. He has also ensured that Hutu and Tutsi youth are integrated in the teams and learning to play and socialize together.  I was treated to performances by the dance groups and an exhibition soccer game – I even have some video that I think you saw!

In any event, these kids are playing without shoes and uniforms and have a hard time playing other teams due to these limitations. It took quite an effort to get the one soccer ball they have and to secure the small plot of land on which to play. He asked me if I could help him get soccer balls, uniforms and shoes for his 2 teams. I told him how much I like to play soccer and how many girls play in the US. We joked about whether girls in Burundi might also enjoy playing sports. He said that he works with girls in their dance group, but that if I could get equipment for both teams, he would put together a girl’s team as well – not a bad promise in place where girls have many fewer opportunities than boys.

UNICEF and other big agencies are there supporting education and other initiatives, but this is such a small request that it’s hard to find donors. I had the idea of trying to find a couple of boys and girls soccer teams in the US that might be interested in learning more about Burundi, these kids and their lives and supporting their sports teams by raising funds for soccer balls, uniforms, shoes and nets. Like a lot of successful initiatives pairing small towns across the globe, this could be a fun way for young people in the US and Burundi to share a little about their lives with one another. It would probably be great for girls in Burundi to see girls here having so much fun playing sports. I also think it could be an enriching experience for youth in New York to learn about a peaceful side of African culture and society – one that doesn’t often make headlines.  We have some local NGO partners that could facilitate the exchange – maybe pictures and letters – as well as secure delivery of the equipment.

I’d be happy to of course join with the teams to put a little sweat labor into raising money based on whatever model they thought best.  I’m grateful if you can think of anyone involved in youth athletics, especially soccer, who might be keen to team up with me on this one – maybe a coach, athletic director or parent?

Thanks for your help!

Best,

Heather