After The Ball kicked off in London on July 10 and then travelled England during the rest of the month, it – inspired by numerous stories, happy faces and of course plenty of signatures – found its way back to SoF’s headquarters in Erfurt, Germany. The excitement of the first stage of this year’s journey could hardly sink in when a small team of ball carriers packed their bags for a very special next travel. As The Ball’s main focus on sustainability and the protection of the environment suggests alternative forms of mobility and local engagement, SoF set off its very first journey without driving or using public transport. The starting team of three loaded up two cargo bikes with workshop material, personal belongings, supplies and of course The Ball for a one-week trip through the Thuringia’s rural areas.
The trip’s kick off on August 7 involved representatives of the federal ministry of the environment and active climate initiatives. Thanks to the support and funding from the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation, guests and passengers at the Climate Pavillon in Erfurt were the first of several participants that engaged in The Ball’s idea to use football to promote climate action and fair play at the local level.
After a short bike ride with about 20 guests and friends the very first day was cherished with a fun game of fair play football and a cheerful round of headers and signatures. As the trip’s schedule was supposed to be quite challenging if goals are met, the big news of the morning ran straight into us: The cargo bike broke down! A brief chit-chat on the extent and quite a few helping hands solved the problem in the blink of an eye. The trip could start and we set off to Arnstadt!
At our first workshop with a group of young players of SV Arnstadt 09 we got to know each other’s personal most favourite football moments as well as future plans and ideas for individual climate action in a casual speed dating atmosphere at the club’s residence. The boys offered amazing vision both on and off the pitch and managed to give us an outstanding debut.
The next day, we travelled further down south to Ilmenau for a kids workshop at a local youth center. As the participants showed remarkable interest in the cargo bikes and their load, we ended up talking about the pros and cons of travelling by bike with an emphasis on the various advantages this kind of travel has. It came quite naturally to most of the kids that bike rides give you the chance to actually see the environment, to feel the speed and to ideally forget about the time. Moreover, it is considered to be way healthier than driving and way better for our planet than taking a plane.
In the afternoon we were lucky to get invited and hosted by Lukas who serves as a pastor at a small church in the same neighbourhood. One part of the congregation sat down with us for a short presentation of The Ball’s journey and its potential and power to change communities for the better. With Lukas and his team we definitely found a good partner for future actions in one of Ilmenau’s more disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
Getting to our next destination required a good set of skills and patience as the tracks up to the village of Schloßkulm appeared to be bolder and more ambitious than we expected. After a long ride across country we finally arrived out of the woods and on top of the hill where we got rewarded by the most beautiful view over the valley. A few steps down, Anna and Jonathan welcomed us to their residence where they organized a holiday adventure camp. Together with a group of kids, artists and chaperones they build their own playground, a bar as well as benches, tents and a massive stage, everything made out of the forest’s wood nearby. What an amazing experience for these young fellows, we thought. To somehow extent the sustainable approach of the week we introduced our fair play rules met at the village’s market place to come up with a fun game of fair play football. The scenery of Schloßkulm with its merely 50 inhabitants provided an unforgettable post card background for a series of pictures that we took with the crew and all of the kids. Apart from the camp, Anna revealed that she regularly visits quite a number of other villages in the area. Her mobile library – a little bus with books, films and photographs – opens up for readings, talks and presentations once every other week in a different place around. By public services like these Anna intends to contribute to a community that communicates and celebrates cultural interaction. An attitude that we absolutely admired. One Ball, One Schloßkulm!
With six days on the road we were heading to Jena on August 12 to go ahead with another workshop at Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld, the stadium of third division football club FC Carl Zeiss Jena. As a pilot for a project we call ‘football under the microscope’ a selected group of coaches and representatives of Carl Zeiss came forward to share and discuss the club’s dreams and possibilities to implement more sustainable elements into their day to day businesses. One example of Jena’s commendable ambition in this regard was the stadium itself. Referring to the club’s calculations the new football arena that is supposed to be completed by 2023 should meet a high number of sustainable standards and is planned to be built in a carbon neutral way. Beyond that, Carl Zeiss and its team is working on an outstanding future for the club that is pushed forward by great openness to new ideas, tremendous positivity and a genuine dedication shared by the groundsman up to the board of directors. It really feels good at Carl Zeiss!
Just a couple pedal strokes away from Jena, we got together with the team of SV Wöllmisse 98 for a friendly. Even though we had some trouble of keeping up with the side’s pace, the game was a perfect opportunity to hear about another exceptional local engagement. The village’s borough Schlöben came to some prominence as it produces its electricity and heat energy completely self-sufficiently. Schlöben’s mayor Hans-Peter Perschke who is the man that brought the whole concept forward is also the football club’s president and a living example of endurance and enthusiasm. Together with Hans-Peter and the club we celebrated one of the region’s most remarkable examples of sustainability that – especially in times of energy shortage and rising prices – will be continuously copied by other communities in the future. Thus, Spirit of Football is proud to be able to support and carry on the torch of local climate action.
From one local star to the other, The Ball’s final stop on its way back to Erfurt brought us to FSV Ilmtal Zottelstedt’ jack of all trades Thomas Schmidt. In the little village just outside of Apolda people of all ages and backgrounds come together to play. Thomas runs the club like a family business, leads the training, heats up the barbecue, speaks to the press and still plays whenever it’s possible. The father of two is a true football maniac who tends to take every step in a caring way without looking for any attention. And when his latest protégé Vlad, a young refugee from Ukraine, scores the decisive goal in his very first game for the club, it seems to be Thomas well-deserved reward to see how easy integration can play out if one wheel meshes with the other.
With magnificent examples of local engagement, outstanding ideas for climate action and a series of happy football spirits in mind, The Ball’s journey through Thuringia’s rural areas came to end after we passed the historic city of Weimar for a quick stop and finally crossed the finish line in our home town of Erfurt on August 16.
After a bit more than one week of travelling we got off our bikes and tried to recap what we moved on from. So many beautiful moments and stories have to be shared and celebrated as we truly got surprised by Thuringia’s potential to face the challenges of the future. Luckily, we had the chance to present some of our experiences to Bodo Ramelow, the prime minister of Thuringia the next day. Mr. Ramelow showed some great respect and gratitude for the work Spirit of Football has done in the last couple of years and stated that he is willing and able to keep on working for a sustainable future for the people and communities in Thuringia to accomplish the objectives that are crucial to protect the environment.
By signing The Ball his pledge was officially documented and celebrated in front of the minister’s office which likewise symbolized the end of The Ball’s journey for now.
