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Obligatory "it's football not soccer" comment from the Brit. That aside, this is a fabulous thing. Anyone can play football in tight spaces with a group and on
by sabret00the 14y ago
Obligatory "it's football not soccer" comment from the Brit.
That aside, this is a fabulous thing. Anyone can play football in tight spaces with a group and on their own. Being the biggest sport on the planet, it's a marvellous thing that you can go literally anywhere and ask someone to play a game and you pretty much all know the simple rules. I'll always get behind things like this.
- EnderMB 14y agoAgreed. Some of my happiest times playing football were on a small side street using a dustbin as a goal net. There's a reason it's by far the most popular sport in the world and as such this news can only be a good thing.
- capdiz 14y agoIf any of you is ever in Uganda hit me up for a game of football. That aside i wish this had come when i was still younger. I remember inflating polythene that was used for packaging 1ltr milk sachets and using tyre tubes as strings for holding up these packagings and for football we lived. I should post a how to video for that come to think of it.
- LargeWu 14y agoIf you're going to be pedantic, then you might as well at least go all the way. The sport is called "association football". It is correct for Americans to call it soccer because, well, that's the most common name for it here.
- gokhan 14y agoIt seems that, as only Americans call it soccer, only Americans think it's real name is "association football".
- kinleyd 14y agoNot a Brit, but yeah, it is football to the world at large. Congratulations to Sting and Tim Jahnigen, this is heart warming. Regarding the cost of the balls, I think when you factor in a 30 year life and assume a cost of $30 per ball, we are looking at a $1/year cost. The up front cost might be higher, and that is an issue, but the actual cost per ball/year is a heckuva lot less. I'm not sure what kind of calculation Unicef is doing when they say “compared to the $2.50 we pay for a regular football, the current cost difference for the more durable solution is currently too high.”
- froseph 14y agoTheir funds are finite and the increased cost of a football would take away funds for other goods and services which they deliver. They need to prioritize their the current needs and demands, not just optimize for the long term cost of a football.
- GFischer 14y agoIt is a great idea, if it works like they say it does :) . I've seen foam footballs before... (after google search): http://www.decathlon.es/balon-futbol-de-espuma-kipsta-foam-id_6350059.html http://www.decathlon.es/balon-futbol-de-espuma-kipsta-foam-i... and they're much cheaper than the proposed one (you can get them for 1-2 dollars), but probably way less durable. "A lion at the Johannesburg Zoo, who would go through six regular balls a day, played with two balls. A German shepherd spent a year biting on a ball. In every case, the balls withstood the abuse." That does sound durable. As stated, U$ 40 is way too expensive for a ball, so the only way it will work is if they continue giving them away as part of relief efforts. Unicef: "“compared to the $2.50 we pay for a regular football, the current cost difference for the more durable solution is currently too high.”" And the shipping problems are also a hindrance. "because the balls cannot be deflated, they are more difficult to ship"
- narag 14y agoI've seen foam footballs before... I've played with it, my son has one. It has a weird way of bouncing, compared to inflated ones.
- DanBC 14y agoBuild a factory "over there" and provide employment opportunities. This helps develop infrastructure in a sustainable useful way. This also provides income replacement for the little children who are no longer stitching traditional footballs. (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-09-27/rest-of-world/34126401_1_child-labour-australian-football-needle http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-09-27/rest-...) [1] Sorry for the "over there" which is a lazy perhaps offensive way to refer to the developing world.
- brudgers 14y agoIn Britain, the game is called "Association Football" to distinguish it from Gaelic, rugby, and other forms of football. The game is officially, "soccer" in the U.S. [United Sates Soccer Federation] and Canada [Canadian Soccer Association]. FIFA calls the game beach soccer, "Beach Soccer." It is played under the "Beach Soccer Laws of the Game." http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/52/76/01/lotg_bswc_en_56329.pdf http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/competition/52/76...
- sabret00the 14y agoI ignored the other comment, but since people are trying to quote stuff, I feel it's important to put it right. Football is the official name in the United Kingdom and especially England. We don't have the Association Football Association but rather the Football Association. It doesn't not have a prefix when it's referred to in any form of media at all. 'Beach Soccer' has no relevance here.
- brudgers 14y ago"Association Football: the game controlled by FIFA and organised in accordance with the Laws of the Game." [FIFA Statutes, July 2012 edition, page 5 (definition 12)] http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/generic/01/66/54/21/fifastatutes2012e.pdf http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/generic/01/66/5... This definition applies to the FA per it's constitution and bylaws. "All Clubs and Aiffliated Associations shall play and/or administer football in conformity with these Rules and also: (a) The Laws of the Game (as defifned in the Articles); and (b) the statutes and regulations of FIFA and UEFA which are in force from time to time." [THE RULES OF THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, page 1] http://www.thefa.com/~/media/Files/TheFAPortal/governance-docs/rules-of-the-association/rules-of-the-association.ashx http://www.thefa.com/~/media/Files/TheFAPortal/governance-do... Here is a list of references to "association football" on the FA's Website: https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Athefa.com+%22association+football%22 https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Athefa.com+%22associat... "Beach Soccer" is of course relevant because that's the name of the game sanctioned by FIFA.
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- Dylan16807 14y agoThen I'll throw in the obligatory counter that the term 'soccer' was coined in Britain.
- mongol 14y agoIt is my belief that the common usage of this word will be an indicator when the English language stops being defined by its native speakers and starts being defined by its more numerable foreign speakers. In most languages, it is called something very similar to football. Since I don't have a native English language, I prefer to call it football for that reason. I don't give a damn about its history, soccer's origin as association football, etc etc. Football is Fussball is fotboll is futbol is fudbold is futebol is futball is fútbol is ..
- lmm 14y agoFootball is what the English, who have the best claim to being native speakers of English, call it.
- vacri 14y agoA native speaker is someone who grew up with the given language as a primary language, not someone who comes from the country the language is named after.
- jacalata 14y agoNo it won't, it'll indicate when the sporting options available to people have shrunk so that they no longer need words to differentiate between football (soccer), football (gaelic), football (Aussie Rules), football (rugby league), football (rugby union), football (gridiron) and any other kinds I'm not aware of.
- mmanfrin 14y agoUp until a few years ago, a lot of the english-speaking world called it soccer: Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the US, Canada. It is called 'sokker' in Afrikaans. Additionally, in Japan is is most commonly called 'sakka'. Brits were truly the only ones calling it Football.
- mylittlepony 14y agoIn Argentina there is only one word for it: "fútbol"
- protomyth 14y agoI guess I'll make the obligatory American comment that we should ship them balls used for Stickball (American not Australian game) so when they grow up they would become fans of Baseball.