3X3 Unites together with Streetball København and B3B, have brought the 3X3 Leader Course to the capital city of Denmark. On August 13th the basketball/hockey court at Mimersparken was the place to be as seven 3X3 Leaders organized a fun day of hoops for everyone. The power of 3X3 shined down on the park as the sun came out for the first time in weeks, and people young and old got to enjoy the welcoming community and some nice games of basketball.

Initially a collaboration between Streetball København and 3X3 Unites through the EU co-funded Empowered by 3X3! project, B3B Basketball Klub was brought on board to facilitate the very first Danish 3X3 Leader Course Educators. B3B strongholds Mazvydas Liutkus, Ugis Promolds and Franchesca Edwards spent a week with 3X3 Unites in Amsterdam to learn the ins and outs of the 3X3 Leader Course, check out the local program and construct the outline of a plan for their city.

This resulted in the first ever Danish group of potential 3X3 Leaders kicking off their journey on the court in Mimersparken in the Nørrebro part of Copenhagen in June. 

Ugis, Franchesca and Mazvydas are three out of nine international facilitators that are educating new 3X3 leaders in their own cities as part of our EB 3X3! Bas Rozendaal, 3X3 Unites’ head of the education program, mentored the three through weekly calls as well as two visits to Copenhagen to gauge their process:
" When Mazvydas, Ugis and Franchesca started their journey with us by visiting Amsterdam I could already sense the huge potential they all held when it comes to connecting and guiding people. We saw them grow weekly, adapt the 3X3 Leader Course to their situation and empower the potential 3x3 Leaders beyond what we could have expected for first time educators." Bas Rozendaal

A diverse group, the potential 3X3 Leaders took up ownership of a combined polo and basketball court. They managed to build a community out of their peers, combined with a broader audience of basketball enthusiasts. More and more people found the court as the 3X3 Leaders-to-be put the lessons they learned from the 3 educators into practice.

Coco, one of the new 3X3 Leaders: ‘I think that sometimes we forget how much we yet have to learn in life. At the age of 26, I feel like this course has developed me in ways I wouldn’t have had the chance to in another setting. I learned so many valuable things, and one core personal development that happened, was that I became more confident in myself and my abilities. I have acquired many valuable qualities from this course that I will take with me.

For me, the event was a perfect integration of everything I learned at the course, and it is what gave the learning, real value, as we had to use everything we had learned and put it into play at the event. The event was so fun to organize, and I would never have had the guts to do it before I attended the course. I am actually already crafting new ideas for future events that I want to organize since it was so much fun.”

The 3X3 Leader Course, designed to empower youth to facilitate communities in their own neighborhood and use 3X3 as a tool for social change, capped off with a 3X3 basketball event on the 13th of august. The 3X3 Leaders made sure the atmosphere on the court was as positive as can be on a sunny Copenhagen sunday afternoon with 3X3 basketball, lightning games, food and music. Streetball København provided new nets for the baskets at the Mimersparken court where over 45 people enjoyed the festivities. A big success, especially as this was the B3B trio’s first time running a 3X3 Leader Course. 

Quote from Franchesca: ''I was looking forward to the course every week, and even when I was exhausted after work, I feel that the course brightened my day. This was in part due to the amazing positive energy from the leaders, but also because of the support from 3x3 Unites and Streetball København. It was a great experience''

Quote from Ugis: ''I loved teaching the course! I connected with so many people, improved my mentoring skills and had a lot of fun.''

Quote from Mazvydas: ''When I first agreed to participate in the 3x3 Unites initiative I did not hold expectations that the project will go much beyond the basketball conceptions. Soon after arriving in Amsterdam and immersing myself in the teachings I realized that I have vastly underestimated the programme, the extent and the professionalism under which the organization operates. The 3x3 Leader course is built around basketball as the core activity but we have been encouraged to see the broader social impacts at every step of the way. This leader course is about learning, inspiration, community, unity and spirit of openship. It’s about the core elements needed to enhance our global society to an entirely new and better way of being.''

The 3X3 Leaders will continue to organize for their community in collaboration with B3B and Streetball København. Keep an eye on those organizations' social media to see what they are up to!

In the coming months 3X3 Unites, Streetball København and B3B will work together and connect their networks to ensure that 3X3 activities and opportunities for the 3X3 Leaders are sustained beyond the EB3X3! project duration.

Kopenhagen and B3B will work out a scaling up strategy, supported by 3X3 Unites. One of the main goals with this project for 3X3 Unites is to scale up the amazing possibilities 3X3 holds for empowering youth. “With this project we want to bring the power of 3X3 to other cities, other countries in a way that ensures it stays bottom-up: local partners that know the community and the local situation and bring in all their talents and ideas, combined with our experience in using 3X3 as a tool for social change and in continuously creating opportunities for youth”, project manager Maxi Sellering from 3X3 Unites.

Make sure to mark October 6th in your calender! During an exclusive session, we will be sharing insights and lessons learned from the EB 3X3 project at the venue of the 3X3 World Tour Master Amsterdam. Learn what we learned and enjoy the amazing energy of the 3X3 World Tour Master Pre-register right here

Read more on the international project EB 3X3 here