Since 2002, The Ball has gotten used to the red carpet being rolled out for its arrival. There have been meetings with presidents of nations (Germany and Zambia for example), cavalcades through cities’ streets, and an address to parliament in Mali. The Ball met the “king of the kings” in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in 2010, Prince Harry in 2014, countless ambassadors, celebrities and football’s royalty too. But sometimes bureaucracy gets in the way. Sometimes The Ball and the SOF team have to demand respect and take over a scene for the benefit of third parties and to prove a point. This happened at the University of Philippines (UP), the venue for matches in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) on the 15th and 16th of April.
Despite the somewhat apathetic welcome from the organisers, our team unveiled The Ball to the De la Salle, Sto Tomas,, Far Eastern and Ateneo de Manila Women’s University teams in the evening of the 15th of April. We told them where The Ball had been, what it is about and who had already signed it. It was when these young, female footballers saw the video of the US Women’s National Team with The Ball that they went crazy – their eyes lit up. “Oh my god!” “Alex Morgan signed?! I love her!” And The Ball had worked its magic again. These young women are the future of football. It is their time. It is their game. Their national team has qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first time ever. One of them is even on the national team, but currently injured. Their heroes have signed up too. They made a lot of noise screaming “One Ball, One World” at the top of their lungs. All of them signed The Ball and were so grateful and excited that it was there. People in the stands watched this unfolding and perhaps asked themselves: “What the hell is going on here?”. They didn’t know any better. No one had told them anything. The media watching on unaware were also perplexed. Football’s Olympic Torch was the best kept secret of the weekend.
Albert Besa the coach of the FEU Men’s Football Team:
“We pledge to educate our team about climate change”