This man, who does not play soccer, sat down and designed it because he was so concerned that kids weren’t getting to play, and he considered it such a vital part of our lives.īL: The man of whom you're speaking is Tim Jahnigen. This man sat down and designed a football. This is really supposed to be used on gravel, on dirt. And the inventors told me that they’re not trying to compete with the people who manufacture soccer balls for the World Cup or high-level competitions, balls that are supposed to be used on grass and turf.

It’s supposedly less bouncy than a regular soccer ball because it’s going to be used on hard surfaces. What's the ball look like and what does it feel like to kick one? Or they’ll make their own balls out of rocks, out of rags, old pieces of trash that they tie together with twine, things like that.īL: So the solution to the problem is a ball called the One World Futbol. They’ll end up putting them aside deflated. So a lot of kids over there in Africa and Haiti will not be able to play with these soccer balls for very long. Or as they deflate, the people who are using them don’t have pumps to reinflate them. In places in Africa, they’re used in places where they have lots of really, really strong thorns, and they break, some of them almost immediately. GK: In refugee camps, in a lot of places overseas, in Haiti, for example, after the earthquake, the soccer balls are used on really hard surfaces. She joined Bill Littlefield for a chat.īL: First, tell us a little about why the donation of normal soccer balls hasn't always worked out. For the website Sports on Earth, Gwen Knapp has written about a ball built to solve that problem. In many parts of the world, keeping a leather ball inflated just isn't practical. The good intentions of those inclined to donate soccer balls to children in refugee camps and poverty-stricken villages have often been foiled by circumstances beyond their control. These colorful spheres don't need to be pumped, making it possible to play the beautiful game anywhere. (Jeff Chiu/AP) Twitter facebook Email This article is more than 9 years old.

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