With March Madness – the annual collegiate basketball match that crowns a nationwide champion within the United States – heating up, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) introduced at this time that, as a part of its broader efforts to empower ladies and ladies by means of sport, 14 membership and federation basketball coaches from Serbia will journey to Louisville, Kentucky and Dallas, Texas from March 21 – April 4 to interact with their American counterparts, civil society, the University of Louisville, and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Conference, which is hosted on the margins of the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

While within the United States, these Serbian ladies’ basketball coaches will take part in trainings and roundtable discussions on Title IX, the landmark U.S. civil rights legislation that afforded ladies and ladies an equal taking part in discipline by means of training and sport; psychological well being; incapacity rights; and inclusivity in sport.

Sports diplomacy is a public diplomacy instrument that gives a gateway for engagement for the United States with audiences and communities past the reaches of government-to-government relations.  The Sports Visitor Program brings non-elite youth athletes, coaches, and directors to the United States and pairs them with their American counterparts, on the court docket and in the neighborhood.  Through these grassroots sports activities change applications, worldwide change members can expertise U.S. tradition, have interaction with the American individuals, and discover shared commonalities in addition to variations on a wide range of points, together with management, battle decision, democratic values, and public service.

For U.S. Department of State press inquiries, contact the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs: ECA-Press@state.gov.  To study extra about Bureau’s sports activities diplomacy efforts, observe on Facebook (@SportsDiplomacyDivision) and Twitter (@SportsDiplomacy).