The mini-balls are here! These are an often-requested item from our customers (and my four year old) and they turned out wonderfully.

    

They are perfect for fun play at home or the office and a great Fair Trade gift for that sports enthusiast who is so difficult to buy for. Both the mini-soccer ball and the mini-rugby ball are healthy gifts that encourage movement whether you are at home or the office. Something important for all of us!

 

Fair Trade footballs are here!

This is another “World’s First” product…the first-ever certified Fair Trade football made with eco-certified materials.

With soft handling and great performance, this Fair Trade eco-football is destined to become a backyard favorite this Fall.

As I mentioned before, I spend a good portion of my working hours helping a US-based team of abolitionists led by my friend David Batstone.

One of the first items we created to spread the message that children should be free to play, rather than forced to work, was soccer balls that are certified to be stitched by adults - not children - in healthy working conditions. Get your own Free to Play soccer ball (and pick up one of our new Edun shirts while you are on the site)!

A few Sundays ago, a group of abolitionists in DC demonstrated a new form of political statement and advocacy, as a local group of concerned citizens and activists took to the soccer pitch in front of the Mall.

The DC Fight Trafficking and Modern Slavery Meet Up group took on the Washington Soccer Society in a “Free to Play” soccer match. The game was to promote a new fair trade soccer ball, which is guaranteed free from slavery, and promote the fight to combat modern slavery and human trafficking. Read more about the event on their blog and get your own certified Fair Trade soccer ball here.

The FLO writes a Producer Profile for each new organization that they certify to be Fair Trade. This is the one for Talon, our manufacturer in Pakistan.

It was written in June 2006, the summer before we launched Fair Trade Sports. The company noted in the profile called FairDeal Trading is my friend, business partner, and personal “professor”, Dr. Martin Kunz in London.

Although I don’t agree with everything in the FLO document - child labor has definitely NOT been “virtually eliminated” from this industry - it’s still a good document overall on the positive programs happening at Talon, including their medical program - a first in the sporting goods industry in Pakistan.
You can learn more about the benefits of purchasing Fair Trade soccer balls on Talon’s website.

In celebration of Earth Day (April 22), I’m pleased to announce all Fair Trade Sports balls are now being equipped with certified latex by the Forest Stewardship Council.

FSC certification is the same eco-label you see on other forest products at Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Kinko’s. Products bearing the FSC logo guarantee that the product (in our case, latex) came from a certified well-managed forest.

As we discussed earlier, the air bladders inside each of our sports balls - such as our fairly traded rugby ball - are made of latex. This latex now comes from our rubber tree forest in India which has been certified both FSC and Fair Trade.

I hope you are able to enjoy Earth Day outside with family and friends!

Susan and I have been fans of Global Exchange for quite awhile. We’re thrilled to have GX on board as one of our wholesale accounts.

Should your team or store be interested in ordering Fair Trade soccer balls and more in bulk quantities, please refer to our volume discount price guide.

As we mentioned earlier, Cabrini College in PA grabbed the honor of “first ever” for a campus wallyball tourney recently. Here are the photos from the CRS “Play Fair Trade Fair” event.

I’m digging the use of our brand stickers as an apparel accessory.

To quote from Jessica Hagerty’s article:

“The volleyballs we will be using were made from people in another country and we can feel confident that they earned fair wages,” Coordinator of Student-Athlete Wellness Jackie Neary said.

Fair Trade is an association of fair trade wholesalers, retailers and producers whose members are committed to providing fair wages and good employment opportunities to economically disadvantaged artisans and farmers worldwide.

Sports balls are one of Fair Trade’s many products. Other products include chocolate, coffee, sugar, cotton products, honey and flowers.

The event is supported by the athletic department’s director of athletics and recreation Leslie Danehy, assistant director of recreation Orlin Jespersen, administrative coordinator Amanda Eckenroad and Neary.

“The athletic and recreation departments are very proud to be participating in this event because it is a very important issue that people should be aware of,” Neary said.

A soccer tournament using Fair Trade soccer balls is another event that the departments wish to pursue.

Does your high school or college campus have a Fair Trade initiative? Let’s see how many more Fair Trade tourneys we can get going with intramural systems and club sports teams!

More Cabrini photos here.

Interesting intersections that happen when you are least expecting it are the ones that make me smile the most.

Yesterday I was glancing through my Google Alerts and found a reference to both fairtrade soccer balls and Fair Indigo, the hip new apparel company from Madison, WI.

I popped over to Just Things - a good source for an “applied counter-economics” perspective on the Fair Trade movement - to read through the candid  interview with Fair Indigo’s Bill Bass and Rob Behnke.

Bill was walking journalist Steve Herrick through his design department when they spotted one of our fairly traded children’s soccer balls. An interesting and insightful discussion about the pros/cons of partnerships between fair trade companies ensued.

I’m already a fan of their apparel line. One of my favorite shirts is their logo tee - amazingly soft and lots of folks ask about the tagline “style with a conscience” when I wear it around town.

Position yourself as a true hipster at the local park by snagging your own fairtrade children’s soccer ball *before* the next Fair Indigo catalog comes out. Then you’ll be able to show your kids the catalog and reap their adoration for being on the cutting edge of hipness. At least that’s what I’m planning to do.

:)

Our friends in the Labor Rights movement just launched a writing|art contest for students to raise awareness of child labor in the chocolate industry.

The first prize for the winning student essay|art in each category is a youth soccer ball from Fair Trade Sports.

If you have kids in grades 3-12, please encourage them to enter!

When you do alot of public speaking, you quickly learn the definition of a “great question” from the audience.

It’s the question that you have a ready answer for - one that helps reinforce a point you made earlier in your talk.

Here’s an example:

Question: Does my Fair Trade store/market need fairly traded youth soccer balls?

Answer: Great question! Yes, it does. And I know where you can find a supply of them.

:)

Here’s what Dick Meyer, proprietor of the Traditions Fair Trade store in Washington state, says about our fairly traded sports balls:

Fair Trade Sports balls fill an important niche in getting new groups of people aware of the importance of fair trade. The quality of the product and the service from Fair Trade Sports provide great opportunities to reach schools and athletic organizations to have them buy responsibly.

Another proponent of fairly traded sports balls is Sarah Davison-Tracy from Colorado. She founded the Seeds of Exchange market and recently commented:

The prompt delivery and personal attention from Fair Trade Sports for our wholesale ordering is terrific! Their fairly traded sports balls are the perfect addition to our monthly markets and are a great complement to our Fair Trade product selection.

You can order volumes of fairly traded futsal balls, soccer balls, volleyballs, and rugby balls from our site - your volume discounts are automatically applied - or by contacting us directly with your order details. Wholesale price guide here.