Spirit of Football
Project Street Address
Project City
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Sport
Soccer
Year the initative began (yyyy)
1998
YouTube Upload
Project URL (include HTTP://)
http://www.spiritoffootball.com/
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
The world of sport is tainted
Which of the principles is the primary focus of your work?
Leverage the fun factor
If you believe some other barrier or principle should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic:
This field has not been completed
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
The Spirit of Football is football's equivalent to the Olympic Torch - a legendary football and the star of the beautiful game.
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field?
Every four years, The Ball sets out from England - where the first game of FA rules football was played - and travels overland to the Opening Ceremony of the World Cup. The Ball explores and celebrates how football enriches peoples' lives and brings their stories to the attention of the world. In doing so, it connects people directly to the World Cup - for as long as there is a World Cup. In 2010, The Ball and the Spirit of Football team will make an 8000 mile pilgrimage to South Africa. The team will include entertainers and footballers, who travel with a simple goal - to show the spirit of the beautiful game. Sustainable Participatory Video (PV) projects in NGOs en route give local people a chance to tell their own stories. These stories, combined with The Ball's investigation of local football culture and visits to festivals of football, music and dance, create a travelling legend – the Spirit of Football. In 2014 the focus falls on the Americas as The Ball travels to Brazil.
What are the existing barriers, the biggest problem, your innovation is hoping to address/change?
Football coverage focuses mainly on the professional game and hooliganism. But there are wonderful projects all over the world making a difference using football. Most do not get the publicity - and thus the funding - that they deserve. The stereotype of Africa is of a continent riven by war, disease and poverty. By giving local people the means to tell their own stories, audiences become aware of the variety of African life, and some of those stereotypes can be dispelled.
Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?
The Ball makes an overland journey to the World Cup, seeking out human interest stories. The team travelling with The Ball documents the action, uploading video, audio, photos and stories to the website. The Ball visits projects that use football to promote social, health and community issues. We select and place students as interns in these projects, which lie along The Ball’s route. The students, trained by fellow changemakers Insight in PV, enable people to tell their stories in their own words. The Ball celebrates the positive aspects of fan culture at festivals of football, music and dance, where The Ball is played with and signed by all the people who help it on its way. The media produced on the trip is fun, informative and educational - for broadcast and for use online and in schools. People learn about the football, history, culture, music and geography of the countries that The Ball passes through. Positive stories about Africa are transmitted to a world wide audience.
How do you plan to grow your innovation?
We want to bring together a network of organisations across all sectors to pool resources to enable dynamic social change. We aim to be funded by public and private partners. The EU, national governments and the Uni of Erfurt can fund the placement of students. The trip can be sponsored by private firms and sold to broadcasters while media partnerships ensure the coverage reaches a wide audience. We plan to work with Insight - who we have teamed up with through this competition - to develop PV hubs in Africa. Insight give intensive training in PV to interns who work closely with NGOs and their communities before The Ball arrives - creating videos that are shared with the global community. We would like The Ball's arrival to kick off the Opening Ceremony of the World Cup. The Ball represents fair play and tolerance, and echoes the toast by which the FA was formed in 1863: "To football irrespective of class or creed". We want to add "race" and "gender" to that declaration.
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact.
The Ball celebrates the role that football plays in people's lives and shares those insights by interconnecting its audience into a global community.
What impact has your innovation had to date/or what is your intended impact? Exactly who are the beneficiaries?
The Ball's 8000 mile journey across Europe, Central Asia and China in 2002 saw it kicked and signed by footballers, Tibetan monks, British ambassadors and highlighted on CNN. The Ball continues to connect people, organisations and countries directly to the World Cup and ensures that they benefit from that connection. The football community benefits by connecting with the grassroots. Our media partners get compelling content in the run up to the cup and our sponsors are socially responsible. We add value to NGOs by giving them much needed exposure and allowing them to tell their own stories in their own words. We visit gender and socially inclusive projects, learn about football being used to promote human rights, and to combat diseases like HIV/AIDS. Our interns become changemakers - managing projects that empower and equip others with the skills to make a real difference. The potential impact of The Ball is enormous because football engages the emotions and attention of the world.
How many people have you served directly?
In 2002, The Ball was played with and signed by thousands as it crossed Europe and Asia en route to the World Cup in Korea and Japan. In 2006, the shorter trip encountered less people, however The Ball was a guest of honour at an EU YOUTH exchange called "With a Spirit of Football" and also at a 24 hour Football Against Racism Marathon. In 2010, we plan to organise festivals of music, culture and football along the route through Africa. We confidently predict that many thousands of people will make direct contact with The Ball, whether by chance in the street or by attending events, playing with it, signing it or helping it along its way. The Ball brings the World Cup to people who wouldn’t otherwise experience it first hand, while simultaneously introducing a global audience to diverse football-related projects, exciting music and the culture of a colourful and vibrant continent.
How many people have you served indirectly?
The extraordinary journey of 2002 and the shorter 2006 trip are brought to life in two films and a pioneering videoblog at spiritoffootball.com. The journeys were widely reported by the media, including features on the BBC and CNN and the site continues to receive over 1m hits a year. The 2002 film is being shown in UK schools by Football Poets. In 2010 and 2014, we plan to reach a much wider community as we develop media and other partnerships. University of Erfurt students are gaining real project management experience and credit points each semester. Selected students from the EU and Africa will lead change-making football projects in their own countries before and after completing an intensive 6 month internship in Africa. African football-for-development projects will be highlighted and exposed to sponsors worldwide. Skills will be transferred as students help NGOs and communities learn how to tell their own stories through PV. Communities learn better when they learn together.
Please list any other measures reflective of the impact of your innovation?
SOF can be more than just a film and podcast, it can be as spectacular as the Olympic Torch itself. The content generated is suitable for multiple distribution channels - for the commuter watching an episode on their mobile device on their way to work; for the football fan watching on digital TV; for BBC World Service radio programming; for the teacher to download and show in the classroom; and - we hope - for the official coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the World Cup.
What are the main barriers to creating or achieving your impact?
It is vital to find partners to play the roles necessary to make the 2010 project a success. The trip is arduous and costly, and for long intervals crosses remote areas. We depend on vehicles, local conditions, technology and people. We need technology investment and research on the ground to ensure we have the connectivity we need. Preparation will be vital and requires funding. We have a team raring to go but they need support. Finally, The Ball might burst. We carry a spare, of course.
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
Spirit of Football is currently privately financed, although we have been paid for TV and radio appearances and have sold images from the 2002 journey. We are currently supported by Films@59 who host the video files of the 2002 and 2006 trips. We have a 55 minute documentary that can be licensed for broadcast. We are collaborating with the University of Erfurt on feasibility studies and are writing a proposal for funding for the student placement project. For 2010, 2014 and beyond, these are some of the possibilities: content sold to print and broadcast media, mobile networks and online services; text voting; sponsorship; public money; philanthropists; Football Associations including FIFA; and adidas, who make the official World Cup ball.
If known, provide information on your finances and organization.
Annual budget: next to nil Annual revenue generated: next to nil Number of staff full-time 0 part-time 0 volunteers 23
What is the potential demand for your innovation?
In 2010, the entire African continent will be alive with expectation at hosting the FIFA World Cup for the first time. A legendary football travelling the length of Africa revealing that excitement will fire the imagination of the world. From football fans to football associations, from education providers en route (and around the world) to partner NGOs in need of publicity, from media audiences to sponsors looking to connect with the grassroots, The Ball is for the benefit of them all.
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability?
At present, we have little income and no paid staff and therefore survive through the efforts of our dedicated volunteers. Our structure is in need of formalisation and the episodic nature of the project may make it difficult to sustain partnerships in the "down time" between World Cups. Each journey of The Ball is to different parts of the world and will require many new partnerships, involve new media innovations and new educational possibilities.
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story.
Three people bring you this story. It starts with two. In 1998, Phil Wake and Christian Wach went to the World Cup in France to record the songs and celebrations of the supporters. They were captivated by the power that music had to bring rival fans together - and discovered through kickabouts that football truly is a global language. Regardless of the outcome on the field of play, they saw people from all over the world come together to celebrate life through football. Infected by the World Cup bug, they planned a trip to Korea and Japan overland - using a football as their passport to games with local people. Setting off from England, the birthplace of the modern game, they suddenly realised that their ball could become a legend - it was "The Ball", football's equivalent to the Olympic torch. In 2006, Andrew Aris contacted Christian. He had formed a non-profit association in Erfurt, Germany, also called Spirit of Football. The Ball came to Erfurt during the 2006 World Cup and was the guest of honour at a 24 hour Football Against Racism marathon. Now they are working together with student teams from the University of Erfurt to help launch the project. The 2002 trip also had a personal dimension, providing Christian with a chance to find his grandfather's grave. Born in America, his grandfather died stationed with the Polish Army in Uzbekistan. In 2010, Christian hopes to visit his grandmother's grave, also a Polish refugee, who is buried at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material.
Andrew Aris is football mad and played for New Zealand and the University of Notre Dame in the USA. In 2000 he moved to Amsterdam for EURO 2000. In 2002, living in Korea, he vividly lived the power of the World Cup. In 2005 he interned at the World Cup Organising Committee, graduated with an MPP and founded Spirit of Football e.V. In 2006 he and his students used football to fight racism and he met Christian and Phil. He wants to dedicate his life to helping them implement their vision.
How did you hear about this contest and what is your main incentive to participate? (this is confidential)
Andrew Aris met with Dr. Timo Meynhardt, Managing Director of the Center for Social Enterprise at the University of St.Gallen regarding Spirit of Football. Timo recommended that Andrew look at ashoka.org. Andrew did just that and came across changemakers.net, became a member and asked for information updates to be sent to him about the Sport for a Better World competition. Andrew informed Christian and Phil about the competition. We are participating because, at present, we are an informal partnership of people and organisations and we do not yet know the best structure for organising this project. We are committed to help the project structure emerge in an open and transparent way from the input of participants, partners, sponsors and audience alike. This is why we believe that the contacts and insight of the changemakers community can be of huge benefit to us and we hope we can make a positive contribution in return.
Affiliation (please list all that apply)
University of Erfurt
 | Kitso Masi said: Andrew, I think the ball represents peace and fairness that we will all love to see around the globe, connecting communities and ... about this idea. - 542 days ago |
| Andrew Aris said: Hey Kitso, thanks for the message. You know yourself that such projects must be based on passion. We have a really passionate team ... about this idea. - 542 days ago |
| Kitso Masi said: Andrew, exciting entry there, well laid out and beautifull. I am touched by the passion that your program was initiated on. looks set ... about this idea. - 542 days ago |
| Andrew Aris said: Dear Tim, Firstly let me apologize that our reply has taken so long. Thanks a lot for your input and suggestions. We are ... about this idea. - 592 days ago |
| Timothy Tucker said: Hi SOF team, Great to read your proposal and all the comments surrounding it. I head up an NGO with five bases across Africa. Our focus ... about this idea. - 607 days ago |
| Christian Wach said: Hi Tyler, Thanks for your continued interest in our project. Apologies that it's taken so long for us to get back to you. You raise ... about this idea. - 609 days ago |
| Tyler Ahn said: Thank you Chris for your response, I need to clarify my last question. I think we were curious about what you say here: We add ... about this idea. - 616 days ago |
| Christian Wach said: Thanks for getting back to us - we appreciate your feedback. Here are our answers to each of your questions in turn. You ask: The ... about this idea. - 617 days ago |
| Tyler Ahn said: Thank you for your reponse~! The team has a couple of more observations and questions. The initiative is indeed very ‘symbolic’, do ... about this idea. - 618 days ago |
| Christian Wach said: Hi Lisa, Thanks for your insightful comments - they have given us real food for thought in terms of how we will update our proposal. ... about this idea. - 632 days ago |
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