The Ball 2014 was hand-made in a prison in Sao Paulo state in a rehabilitation project called Painting Freedom. At the end of the journey, The Ball visited the Franco de Rocha Prison to meet its maker and was used in a Futsal game with inmates inside the prison. Also in 2014, The Ball was invited into an army prison in Colombia. That time we weren’t allowed to play football but the inmates headed and signed The Ball. When Spirit’s Bali Ambassador Ghozi invited us to bring The Ball 2022-2023 into the Kerobokan Prison for a football tournament, we immediately agreed. Iris, who always wants to play in any match that she can, put her hand up and said “I will play too”. We wondered whether this would be wanted or allowed. Could a woman play in a Bali male prison?
The tournament was being organized by a group of English and Australian residents in Bali, led by Tex, Inigo and Austin, who is coaching the football teams inside the prison. Iris said “I’m playing”. Tex said: “Okay”. And so it was. They had been in the prison for several one-off matches leading up to this tournament but this was the first time that anything so big and on such a scale had happened: It was a 5 team tournament and approximately 25 players from outside were coming inside for it.
A local company Aussie Pies sponsored the event – providing not only shirts for the teams but food and drinks for all participants and their founder also played in the goal. There were 5 teams for the 5-aside tournament that took place on the small grass football field that takes centre stage in the middle of the prison.
After security checks and having waited for lunch time prayers to finish, we were allowed to enter into the heart of the prison where a huge banner with the Spirit of Football Logo was to be seen. We immediately got into conversation with several inmates from places like Italy, England, Germany, Portugal, Turkey, USA, Nigeria and Indonesia too. Two young men, one from the US and one from Italy, talked about having reflected upon the crimes and lifestyles that put them behind bars. They both came to the conclusion that they had surrounded themselves with the wrong people and had made many mistakes.
The football itself was fair and friendly. Iris, the only woman, played for team Aussie Pies. When she scored the 1-0 goal in our opening match, the crowd that had gathered to watch the football, celebrated. It was an aha moment. In a prison in the middle of Denpasar, Bali in Indonesia, a moment of gender equality had been witnessed. A lot of congratulations were shared.
Our Aussie Pies Team won that first game 3-2, but were no match in the final against the Prison A team that deservedly took home the wooden tournament trophy. Coach Austin, who takes up a leading role in football in the prison, was delighted by the result. Having had many enlightening conversations and recorded many new signatures on The Ball, it was a very fulfilling day for us all. We were happy to bring some fun and energy into the prison and hope that all concerned could take some of those positive vibes into the next weeks.
Thank you to Tex, Inigo and Austin and everyone else, too for organizing this great event. A special thanks also to the head of prison and all the guards for making this day possible. It was a privilege to take part in the tournament and being able to document the day with pictures.
It was definitely an unexpected highlight for us on this journey and we wish all the best to everyone who was part of this special day.
