PS4L Facilitator & Trainer Yumon Masri Sunday Football Lessons

Palestine: Sports for Life (PS4L) northern area program supervisor, Yumon Masri, and trainers Momen Masri, Mohammed Abu Teen and Zeid continue to teach football and life skill sessions for PS4L teams while raising awareness on Covid-19 and instilling precaution measures through their play. PS4L trainers coach two girls football teams (5th grade team and 11th grade team) and one boys football team (from ages 9 to 12) every Sunday morning. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the coaching team added new life skills in their lessons that are aimed in bringing awareness on COVID-19. They shed light on the safety measures needed to be followed to prevent the transmission of the virus, such as constant sanitation and social distancing. They cover both how to not get the virus and if one were to have it, the proper isolation that is needed. These weekly lessons are instilled for the youth to have fun while learning more on COVID-19. These football and life skill lessons are open for any boy or girl in Tulkarem who want to join. PS4L trainers  are specialized in teaching life skills through football small games. They bring awareness and develop life skills such as, teamwork,  time-management, fair play, perseverance, planning and developing a merit in social communication. "I try to use these exercises and small games as an advantage to change how these girls and boys think. I found huge success in teaching life skills through small games since I've seen a change in their behavior and thoughts from when they first started till now. How they work together, manage their time, and many more behaviors have been developed through our sessions." -PS4L North area Program supervisor Yumon Masri, Tulkarem. We are proud to have Yumon as a supervisor for the North Area PS4L Program, Momen, Mohammed and Zeid as the coaching team. 

Girls and boys from these football lessons telling us about their experience:

"Sports changed many things in my life; it increased my self-confidence, became a hobby, and I made many new friends- I call them my 'sports family'. During the period of the coronavirus pandemic, my awareness on protecting my health increased. I began to always sanitize my hands, follow safety protocols, and recognized the importance of continuing training despite difficult times."
- Moneer Masri, 14 years-old Boy's team, goalkeeper (has been participating for 3 years)

"Football affected me so much that my physical health increased to an excellent degree, made me face any challenge coming my way, and increased my team spirit. Specifically, during the coronavirus outbreak, despite the situation and the closure, we did not succumb to the crisis, on the contrary, we continued training but with precautions and safety measures."
- Hala Abu Khater, 11th grade Girl's team, defense (7 months)