“Build Bridges, Not Walls”
An outgrowth of Boston’s Sister City agreement with Belfast, Northern Ireland, civic leaders and youth-serving organizations in both cities are collaborating on an innovative youth leadership development, civic engagement and cultural exchange program for hockey-playing Boston boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 16.
The 7-year old initiative (paused during COVID) utilizes the power of sport to instill leadership skills, civic engagement, cross-cultural awareness, community service, friendship and respect between and among Boston and Belfast teens. In addition to receiving impactful educational, civics and leadership trainings, program participants travel on a weeklong cultural excursion to Belfast in November 2024, capped off by exhibition hockey matches with Belfast peers during the Friendship Four US college hockey tournament. To date, the program has benefitted ethnically diverse youth from Roxbury, Dorchester, South Boston, East Boston and West Roxbury, including SCORE Boston Hockey. The program is run under the auspices of the Mass. Hockey Children’s Foundation, a 501(c)3 charitable organization.
Annual Program Highlights include:
- Civic, educational, leadership development and team-building skills workshops & trainings
- Civic Engagement & Leadership Development Workshops: Diversity Equity & Inclusion, Municipal Government, International Diplomacy – facilitated by non-profit iCivics, Inc., of Cambridge
- Understanding the history of Ireland and Northern Ireland; background on Northern Irish conflict; cultural and historic similarities between Boston and Belfast
- Community service/social action group projects in Boston
- Weeklong trip to Belfast, chaperoned by adult coaches/educators/youth workers
Weeklong Trip to Belfast highlights:
- Cross-cultural educational opportunities with Belfast peers in schools and teen centers
- Civic engagement opportunities with top City of Belfast and US diplomatic officials
- Interaction with US college student-athletes participating in Friendship Four hockey tournament
- Supervised excursions to top cultural attractions in Belfast and Northern Ireland coast
- Participation in exhibition ice hockey matches with Belfast Junior Giants during Friendship Four
- Maintaining daily Journal of observations and experiences in Belfast
BOSTON-BELFAST AT A GLANCE
Over 50 youths
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7 years
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20+ volunteers
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Educational, Cultural and Civic Activities & Excursions in Belfast
- Life skills trainings/workshops facilitated by Belfast’s award-winning Active Communities Network
- Private tour of Peace Walls, murals and memorials in sectarian Belfast neighborhoods
- Interaction with Belfast elementary school students, teen centers and Irish language-speaking schools
- Engagement with Belfast social enterprises benefitting foster care teens and cognitively challenged persons
- Private receptions with the Lord Mayor of Belfast and US Consul General of Northern Ireland
- Visits to the award-winning Titanic Belfast Museum and newly reimagined W5 Science & Discovery Centre
- Excursion to the famous Giants Causeway, one of Northern Ireland’s most popular tourist attractions
- Opportunity to participate in traditional Irish sports such as Gaelic Football and Hurling
- Traditional American Thanksgiving dinner in historically significant venue
Latest News
- Belfast Trip a Success for Boston to Belfast Youth Empowerment
Boston to Belfast Youth Empowerment partnered with the Boston-Belfast Sister Cities, the Friendship Four NCAA collegiate hockey tournament, and… Read More »Belfast Trip a Success for Boston to Belfast Youth Empowerment - Final Skates for 2024 Participants Before Belfast Trip
Participants for the 2024 Boston to Belfast Youth Empowerment program had two final skates in preparation… Read More »Final Skates for 2024 Participants Before Belfast Trip
2024 Friendship Four Preview
Video preview of the NCAA ice hockey games in Belfast, Northern Ireland on November 29-30, 2024 between Notre Dame, Harvard, Boston University, and Merrimack College.