small park BIG RUN

10 years of small park BIG RUN (spBR) is an incredible achievement. The event has grown every year in its reach and the variety of ways to be involved, although it is increasingly sobering how urgently events like this are needed.

3-3 Palestine at SPBR 2026

It is with a lot of pride that we bring a football element to spBR for a 3rd year. In 2024 we brought a football related stall to the park and a football lantern was carried round continuously for 24 hours by a relay team of grassroots footballers. This year, as last year, we are bringing the stall plus running the 3-3 Palestine activity again. 3-3 Palestine is admittedly a bit of a whimsical name. Its origin was, in an echo of the ‘Free, Free Palestine’ chant, wanting to shout ‘Palestine’ every time I heard the football scoreline ‘3-3’. But its message is deadly serious….we will come on to that.

3-3 Palestine provides a quick burst of football fun – accessible to all – as part of the spBR route around Meersbrook Park. We will have a mini football course set up at the top of the big hill, with 3 key football skills – passing and moving, dribbling and shooting. The idea is that you complete each skill 3 times (hence the 3-3) and you get rewarded with a badge and a certificate. You can sign up at the start of the run or at the activity itself, for a suggested donation of £2 upwards (all going into the two charities supported by spBR; Sheffield Palestine Cultural Exchange and Sheffield Palestine Women’s Scholarship Fund). Last year we had over 70 sign-ups from toddlers upwards and so much great feedback, especially from non-footballers who just enjoyed having a go!

Back at the start line we will have the football stall with a display outlining what the connections are between football and Palestine Solidarity and this is the weightier part of the offering.

Athleticide

Among the many atrocities committed by Israel on the Palestinian people is the crime of athleticide. This is part of the wider attack on Palestinian culture as a way of attempting to erase the history and identity of a people. As well as its significance in wellbeing, social structure and building bonds between people, sport can form an incredibly significant part of a nation’s identity by providing visibility on the global stage, the opportunity to achieve status in competition, a display of national symbols like the flag, source of national pride etc. 

The athleticide statistics are horrifying with the Palestine Football Association estimating that at least 1,008 sportspeople have been killed and nearly 300 sports facilities have been destroyed in Gaza by Israel since October 2023. In addition are debilitating injuries, psychological trauma, the disruption of sports programmes, careers, and aspirations.

The World Cup

With the FIFA Men’s Football World Cup having kicked off on 11 June, the contrasts between the spectacle that FIFA is portraying and the grim experience of football in Palestine could not be starker 

This is why it becomes even more important to seize moments when football is in the public’s consciousness and use football as a relatable tool to illustrate what is happening in Palestine. And what we can do.

The Palestine Coalition held an alternative World Cup Opening Ceremony on Weds 10 June at Lowfield Park. We gathered round the big flag and were joined by local families. We chanted, spoke about boycott and read out the names of 136 Palestinian footballers who have been killed by Israel since October 2023 followed by a minutes silence. The local children contributed much to the event, reading out poetry and playing under the flag as the adults lifted it. It was both a reflective and uplifting event, illustrating the joy of play and togetherness which sport can bring.

What we can do

We really hope you will take part in 3-3 Palestine at spBR as a way to help raise funds on the day and for the joy of engaging in sport. But there are ways of using football as a campaigning tool too which we hope this will inspire you to do as well.

You can read the materials we will have on display to deepen your knowledge of athleticide and of football in Palestine.

You can support campaign calls for FIFA to ban the Israeli FA and for games involving Israeli teams to be stopped.

There are numerous boycott actions you can take – from the main sponsors of the FIFA World Cup such as McDonalds and Coca-Cola to sports companies such as Puma who signed a four-year sponsorship deal with Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv.

You can make regular visits to the Red Card Sheffield linktree where you will find updated news items and actions related to Palestine and football – better still, join the Red Card Sheffield Announcement WhatsApp group to be alerted when there are actions to be taken.

Visit https://linktr.ee/redcardsheffield to get started and come and say hello at the 3-3 Palestine Stall at spBR – we look forward to seeing you there!