Seeing little playing time for the Georgetown Hoyas throughout his college career, Sead Dizdarevic wasn’t exactly a superstar on the basketball court. His greatest accomplishment might have been riding the bench in his final season as the Hoyas advanced to the 2007 Final Four. Despite his low profile during his collegiate career, after graduation Dizdarevic found a way to contribute both on and off the court.
Courtesy Stephanie Sawda
Last summer, Dizdarevic launched a pilot program that he called the Basketball Diplomacy Project. With the help of Judith Jones, a public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in Montenegro, Dizdarevic managed to secure funding from the U.S. State Department and the Opportunity Bank in order to launch a basketball camp in his native country of Montenegro.
The pilot program consisted of eight practice sessions in Herceg Novi, Montenegro. Fifty teenagers from Montenegro and Croatia participated.
In order to help him run the camp, Dizdarevic asked four former teammates to come along–Ashanti Cook, Darrel Owens, RaMell Ross, and Amadou Kilkenny-Diaw. Matt Henry, Dizdarevic’s former coach and Georgetown’s director of basketball operations also joined the group.
None of Dizdarevic’s former teammates were surprised when he proposed the idea—Dizdarevic had frequently talked about taking his fellow Hoyas back to his homeland, but never managed to organize the trip.
After their successful first trip, the Georgetown Basketball Diplomacy Project received another grant to continue the program in 2009.
This year it will be managed by the Georgetown’s Center for Intercultural Education and Development, where Dizdarevic now works, along with the help of Georgetown Athletics. This summer, the program will expand to enlist 12 volunteers who will visit not only Montenegro, but also other Balkan nations that have been plagued by ethnic, religious and national disputes.
“The main point of the program is to use basketball as a tool to bring together young players from these conflicting countries,” Dizdarevic says. “We talk to them about the importance of education and how they should use basketball to better their individual being.”
This summer’s program will be run differently than in its pilot year. There will be two groups of players and coaches from the United States, each of which will perform two three-day camps, one group in Serbia and Kosovo and the other in Albania and Montenegro. There will be approximately 40 boys and girls in the program from 10 to 16 years of age.
When the regional camps come to an end, the six best student-athletes from the four countries will be recruited to participate in the “Unity Camp” in Kolasin, Montenegro. “Unity Camp” is grounded in the teenagers’ common interest—basketball—in an attempt to help them reconcile the ethnic differences that have sparked conflicts in the past.
Dizdarevic and his fellow volunteers are aiming to blend a high quality basketball training camp with a mentoring program. The athletes and coaches will share their experiences, emphasizing the importance of education.
As a teenager growing up in Montenegro, Dizdarevic considered dropping out of high school in order to pursue a basketball career in his home country; however, his parents dissuaded him. He instead came to Georgetown for both its basketball and its education, and graduated with a degree in government.
“You are all true ambassadors of the spirit of service integral to Georgetown’s mission,” University President John DeGioia wrote in a letter to Dizdarevic. “I am deeply grateful for your work to teach these teenagers about both basketball and the importance of education.”
Looking to the future, Dizdarevic wants to turn the program into an annual event. His grants will only go so far, but he continues to pursue additional funding. He appreciates the opportunities the Georgetown community has given him, and he hopes his fellow Hoyas will give a few more kids from the Balkans the same chance.
