By Sarah Van Vooren, Atoot Co-Founder, Equal Playing Field Ambassador and member of our Spirit of Football Family Arriving early to the sprawling campus of Sydney Academy of Sport and Recreation in the north suburbs, Festival23 was buzzing with positive… [Read More]
News
The passing of a real friend of football: Martin Tofinga of Kiribati
Martin Tofinga was larger than life – in every sense of the term. That makes it so incredibly hard for those who were close to him to come to terms with the fact that he is no longer with us…. [Read More]
“Marvelous Matildas Beat Blokes on the way to the top” – Round of 16 in Sydney
Marvelous Matildas Beat Blokes on the way to the top was the front page headline of the Daily Telegraph newspaper in Sydney on Wednesday August 9th (Aussie star player Sam Kerr was all over the back page too). The Matildas… [Read More]
The Ball at festival 23
By Sarah Van Vooren, Atoot Co-Founder, Equal Playing Field Ambassador and part of our Spirit of Football Family The Ball’s journey has landed in Sydney! For 8 days, we were a part of Festival23, where we were leading a handful… [Read More]
The Ball meets Power! – Powerchair Football Victoria
By Sarah Van Vooren, Atoot Co-Founder, Equal Playing Field Ambassador and part of our Spirit of Football Family: Powerchair football is the greatest sport you have probably never heard about. Let me be the first to say: THIS FOOTBALL IS… [Read More]
The Ball and American Consul meet Women’s Street Soccer Program
By Sarah Van Vooren, Atoot Co-Founder, Equal Playing Field Ambassador and part of our Spirit of Football Family Continuing our work around Melbourne we visited The Big Issue Street Soccer women’s programme, which supports disadvantaged and marginalized women, many of… [Read More]
Spirit of Resilience – The Afghan National Women’s Team
By Sarah Van Vooren, Atoot Co-Founder, Equal Playing Field Ambassador and part of the Spirit of Football Family: One of the most powerful stories on the global football stage the past year and a half surrounds the extraordinary escape of… [Read More]
North Melbourne Street Soccer Program Inclusion Workshop
After the prison workshop, we headed to George’s Big Issue Street Soccer Programme at the North Melbourne Community Center. This programme focuses on the reintegration of former prisoners into society and also works with diverse nationalities who have migrated and… [Read More]
Inclusion and Rehabilitation – The Ball at Port Phillip Prison
We knew we were going to a prison rehabilitation project, but as we arrived I realized: this is a real prison; in fact a high security prison. George Halkias is the incredible mind who started the Big Issue Australia Street… [Read More]
‘I plan to fight for equal opportunities for my sister’ – Casey Fields Primary
By Sarah Van Vooren, Atoot Co-Founder, Equal Playing Field Ambassador and member of the Spirit of Football family Stepping onto the community pitch at Casey Fields Primary School in suburban Melbourne was my first sip of The Ball & Spirit… [Read More]
The Matildas go Waltzing on in the round of 16
‘Waltzing Matilda’ is a famous Australian folk song. The song originally to do with a sheep shearers strike in the 1890s is all about fighting for social justice. Waltzing is from the German term ‘auf der walz’ , which means… [Read More]
The Ball 2023 on the finish line: Australia
After 12 months, The Ball has reached its last country on this year’s journey: Australia. Australia is country number 21 on this journey. Full with activities, The Ball’s journey culminates with a visit to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Final… [Read More]