What do soccer and Corporate Social Responsibility have in common?
By Mal Warwick
Got your attention with that headline? It’s all true.
Shortly after the July 4th holiday this year, and before the final games of the World Cup taking place half a world away from its home in California, the One World Futbol Project launched with a big splash in the media – and it’s no wonder!
The company’s product – its sole product at this point – is a unique and revolutionary new soccer ball that never deflates, never needs a pump or needle, and will go on playing even if it’s punctured.
The Project’s first financial backer was Sting – yes, the one and only Sting – who fell in love with the idea of the ball when the inventor (one of four partners in the venture) revealed it to him. Sting paid for all the R&D costs.
And the Lion King? Well, two of the Project’s managers were in South Africa for the final days of the World Cup, meeting with FIFA and other soccer related organizations, and one of them visited the Johannesburg Zoo. There, the zoo director tossed a One World FutbolTM literally into the lion’s den, the home of Triton, the biggest lion in the zoo. And Triton LOVED it! He first tried to destroy the ball, and when that failed, he played with it for nearly half an hour, then collapsed in exhaustion. The director and the keepers were astonished. No previous ball had survived more than two minutes with Triton. And after they retrieved the ball, it was still in great shape.
So, that’s the ultra-durable, all-terrain One World Futbol, the Play Anywhere BallTM. And what does it have to do with corporate social responsibility, or, for that matter, with you?
For years, NGOs working in developing nations have used soccer—by far the world’s most popular sport—in efforts to improve or rebuild quality-of-life in challenging circumstances, including inner cities, conflict zones, and refugee camps. The U.S. military is engaged in major efforts to create soccer fields in what were previously combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. And NGOs working with children and adolescents throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America frequently distribute traditional soccer balls and pumps because of the sport’s proven value in building community, maintaining social structure, teaching valuable communication skills and honorable conflict resolution, and serving as therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
In the harsh environments where these development efforts typically take place, traditional soccer balls frequently last only a few days, sometimes only hours. That’s where the ultra-durable One World Futbol comes in, making its way into communities in need three different ways:
• The One World Futbol Project, a certified B Corporation, sells the ball online with a “Buy One Give One” offer that allows it to donate one ball for every ball sold to an NGO or government agency that distributes free soccer balls to deserving communities.
• The Project sells the One World Futbol in bulk quantities at steeply discounted prices to NGOs, government agencies, corporate CSR programs, and other qualified buyers. Co-branding is available with purchases in sufficient quantities.
• The Project donates some of its profits to the One World Futbol Foundation, which also raises additional funds to purchase and ship more balls to people who can’t afford them.
And that’s how CSR is becoming a factor in the world’s most popular sport!
Check out the One World Futbol Project for yourself at http://www.oneworldfutbol.com or on Facebook. You’ll find video and still photos on YouTube and Flickr, too. And if you have any questions of me, write mal@malwarwick.com.
About Mal Warwick
Mal Warwick, a former board chair of Social Venture Network and a co-founder of Business for Social Responsibility, is deeply engaged in both the nonprofit sector and the business community. He is a managing member of the One World Futbol Project LLC.
