SAO PAULO, Brazil — Tucked away in a 1950 World Cup stadium, the Museu do Futbol is part Cooperstown, part cathedral. It’s a walk through history, through Brazil’s world championships and legendary players. It’s also a testament to the transformative power of a ball.
On the second floor, an exhibit of makeshift balls fills one wall. There’s a ball made of bubble wrap, a bottle cap, a stone, a gourd, a doll’s head, a sock, a lime, a crushed soda can. They aren’t artifacts from the past. When there’s nothing else, balls made from rags, paper and trash will do.
During the past three years, an indestructible ball, the color of a cloudless day, has been bouncing around the globe, giving children in impoverished areas, refugee camps and war-stricken communities a chance to play.
The One World Futbol Project, based in Berkeley, Calif., will ship its one millionth ball this summer. The ball has been distributed to 170 countries through organizations impacting an estimated 26 million children in disadvantaged communities .
Throughout her travels, One World Futbol co-founder Lisa Tarver has seen balls made out of plastic bags, inflated condoms, fruit and wads of trash. If a community or school is able to buy a ball, it usually doesn’t last long.
“Inflatable balls are designed for grass and turf, and our ball is designed for where most of the world plays — on dirt and rocks with barbed wire and glass, which does in an inflated ball in, in a matter of minutes or hours,” Tarver said.
This ball never goes flat, can be run over by a truck or chewed on by a lion (there’s video to prove it) and is made of cell foam and similar material used in rubber Crocs sandals.
The ball came to be after Tarver’s husband, Tim Jahnigen, watched a news report about traumatized refugee children in Darfur. They were using a ball made of trash tied together with twine. Jahnigen figured there had to be a better way to play. He shared his vision with his friend, Sting, who provided the initial funding to do the research and development for a prototype ball.
For the World Cup, One World Futbol partnered with three programs in Brazil. One of those groups is love.futbol, which helps communities plan, build and manage soccer fields.
Some donated balls are a result of a campaign created in honor of Richard Swanson, whose dream of dribbling a One World Futbol from Seattle to the World Cup ended when he was hit and killed by a car last year. About 5,300 balls are being distributed to schools and communities in Brazil through sponsor Chevrolet.
In the shadow of the new $370 million stadium that hosted the opening game, is Itaquera, a rough Sao Paulo neighborhood. Before Brazil met Croatia, love.futbol christened a new field. Marta, Brazil’s five-time women’s world player of the year, was there, and so was former men’s star Bebeto, along with hundreds of kids.
“To me, this project represents an incredible dichotomy here in Brazil between fields that exist to ensure that youth have safe places to play the game vs. the massive World Cup stadiums hosting the top players across the world,” love.futbol CEO Drew Chafetz said. “The amount of public funding that went to support them has led to such distress in Brazilian society.”
Much of love.futbol’s work was in response to the construction and displacement of poor neighborhoods as Brazil prepared for the tournament. U.S. midfielder Graham Zusi, along with Brazil’s David Luiz and Hernanes serve as love.futbol ambassadors.
Zusi said says his connection is meaningful because he worked so hard to make the World Cup team. He realized his dreams in Brazil. With a ball and a field, he hopes kids here can do the same.
Landon Donovan, Julie Foudy and Tony Sanneh are also involved with the project. After playing in the 2002 World Cup, Sanneh started a foundation based in Minneapolis, and has worked with One World Futbol projects in Haiti.
“It’s all about the opportunity for play and the growth and healing that play provides,” Tarver said. “There’s an escape. There’s an opportunity to do something else, and that’s through play and football. Play helps heal the trauma from those experiences.”
Globally 1.3 billion kids under 12 are living in abject poverty. “So we could ship a million balls a year for many years and still not even reach 10% of the population,” she said.