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"An African ball made for the poorest African communities — the very embodiment of development through football in Africa."
The Ball 2010 was made by the not-for-profit Alive & Kicking in Kenya. The Ball visited Special Olympics projects in Africa, meeting their athletes, coaches and supporters, playing many games of Unified Football and helping to break down negative stereotypes about the intellectually disabled.
Posted on Saturday, June 12th, 2010 by The Ball
“It is here. Feel it. Touch it. It is here.” Says a Bafana, Bafana grandmother as she meets The Ball and welcome us to the World Cup.
The Ball has arrived at Soccer City, just hours before the World Cup Opening Ceremony. We kick The Ball to the stadium. We juggle The Ball with fans from around the world with the stadium behind us and the roar of hundreds of Vuvuzelas all around.
Celebrate The Ball… it is here!
We call out “One Ball” and a crowd reponds in unison “One World”…
Then a Mexican fan takes charge… “When I say Una pelota everyone replies Un mundo… Una pelota… un mundo… Una pelota… un mundo…”. The crowd gathered is dancing. The Ball is held aloft and celebrated.
Next up is a French fan: “Une balle. Un monde”…
Finally a German fan: “Ein Ball. Eine Welt”…
Four Ball Carriers and The Ball
Phil and Christian stand either side of Andrew, arms interlocked. Richard is up on Andrew’s shoulders. Christian and Phil pass The Ball to Richard. Richard lifts The Ball up in the air in front of Soccer City.
The Ball is raised… the journey is over
The Ball’s epic journey is over.
There are 32 teams represented at the World Cup. 32 panels on The Ball. 32 countries The Ball has visited in the past 138 days. Over 17,000 people have kicked or headed and signed The Ball.
With an African ball, we have learned that this is Africa’s World Cup. We’ve seen that people on this continent are generous, friendly and full of life. We’ve come to care passionately about Special Olympics’ and the fantastic work that organisation is doing across Africa.
It doesn’t matter if you are black, white, orange or red…. it doesn’t matter if you are old or young…. nor if you are male or female…. it doesn’t matter if you are good at football or not and it certainly doesn’t matter whether or not you have an intellectual disability… The Ball is for everyone…
One Ball. One World.
The Ball 2010 left Battersea Park on 24th Jan 2010 headed to the Opening Ceremony in Johannesburg for the 11th June 2010.
The Ball 2006 (Teamgeist) travelled from Battersea Park, London and headed to the Opening Ceremony in Munich, Germany.
The Ball 2002 (Fevernova) was carried 7000 miles across Europe and Asia to the World Cup finals in Korea & Japan.
Pass the ball on! All footballs donated via Alive & Kicking's website before the 2010 World Cup went to Special Olympics programmes in sub-Saharan Africa. But you can still donate a ball to a good cause...
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it was a great moment!great fun.
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Thank you for post and Wydad is the best
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