UK Sport’s International Development Through Excellence and Leadership in Sport (IDEALS) initiative is making the most of the FIFA World Cup, with students in Namibia beginning their placements by supporting ‘The Ball’ tour. The students, from Liverpool John Moores University, who are on eight-week placements with three sport for development organizations – Special Olympics Namibia, Physically Active Youth and Score Namibia – spent their first week organising activities around the World Cup.

‘The Ball’ is a concept designed in 2002 that wanted to demonstrate the belief that the world can unite through the medium of football. The idea was to make a journey from the birth place of modern day rules football – London’s Battersea Park – and travel to the location of the World Cup. In 2010, making the trip from London’s Battersea Park to South Africa, and travelling through Windhoek, Namibia, the Ball thus far has travelled for 122 days and passed through nearly 40 countries.

Run and organized by Spirit of Football CIC, the whole concept was an idea by Christian Wach, Richard Hamilton and Phil Wake, based on a simple message: “One Ball, One World – There is only one world and one ball – we must take care of each!” Spirit of Football believes this invites people from all walks of life to share in the joy of participation by directly engaging them in playing the game and indirectly by connecting them to the World Cup.

The Ball has been visiting Special Olympics projects in Africa, meeting their athletes, coaches and supporters, playing many games of unified football and helping to break down negative stereotypes about the intellectually disabled.

The IDEALS students were able to participate in this exciting event. One participant, Ash Greaves, said:“Travelling through the streets of Windhoek, you could see the excitement in everybody’s faces, the sight of one football, hearing the music and watching as this celebration travelled past houses, it was a very moving experience.

“In many cases, children and adults alike ran out to see the celebration, running alongside the bus and waving with excitement. Driving past and stopping to celebrate with people gathered in several areas along the way was equally breathtaking, but for what this meant to both Special Olympics and the public, these stop points were fantastic displays of what The Ball stands for.”

The tour finished at Sam Nujoma Stadium, where hundreds of youths and adults awaited. IDEALS students helped set up activity stations, including two small sided football pitches, a penalty shoot out, and an inflatable football pitch, where many people were able to participate in some football activity. The activities provided the community with a sense of togetherness through sport, and in giving away World Cup associated merchandise, this helped in increasing the level of interest in the World Cup, but more importantly, an increased interest in sport in Windhoek.