July 8
Benched! Already?
It’s true, I was out of the The Ball game when Andrew and Iris took the ball about an hour south of Tāmaki-makau-rau Auckland to Kirikiriroa Hamilton. (A growing number of the cities in Aotearoa New Zealand now go by one or both of two names: their Māori name and/or their English one. The use of both names has been prioritised by FIFA.)
The 53-year-old Oregonian and newest member of the team (me) couldn’t go along because I was rehearsing – and then recovering from the rehearsal – for the vibrant, energetic, and inspiring WWC opening ceremony, to be held in Auckland’s Eden Park on 20 July. I’d tell you about it, but I’d have to lock you up, tape your mouth, and take away your smartphone until World Cup kick-off on the 20th of July!
Andrew and Iris and The Ball went to Kirikiriroa on two occasions while I was caught up in my secret ceremony practice. The Migrant Expo on July 8 and Fairplay Football with the Colombian Community on July 10 (see next blog entry). Their first destination was the Migrant Expo Festival, where they invited all comers to do the thing – head The Ball, sign it, and make a pledge. These pictures tell a better story than I ever could of the diversity of people who were drawn to The Ball and its mission.
The team from Spirit of Football (SOF) had been invited to the expo by the friendly people at Earth Diverse, a not-for-profit social enterprise that provides diversity education programmes in the broad categories of Language, Culture, and Nature. The mission and programmes of Earth Diverse align well with those of the SOF – both organisations want to help people better understand each other and the world and mitigate racism, discrimination and environmental degradation.
