Like baseball Aaron
Rodgers Packers Jersey , basketball is one of Americas favorite
pastimes. The evening the Houston Rockets won the NBA Championship in 1995, the
streets of Houston were packed with throngs of people and seemed to be a common
thread amongst everyone no matter their race, color or creed. that commonality
was sports. It didnt matter if they werent really basketball fans; they were
fans of being winners and that night, we were all winners.
There is
something going on in Iraq right now that reminds me of that nostalgic moment:
Operation Soccer Ball. Apparently the Iraqi people, particularly the Iraqi
children, are passionate about soccer. Actually, its football to them, but we
call it soccer. You could equate their passion for the game of soccer to our
love of football or baseball. Any street, field, farm, or dusty ground off the
side of the road is a veritable soccer field in Iraq. From reports of soldiers
overseas Womens
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form or fashion of a soccer ball. If they dont have a soccer ball, theyll use
anything as a substitute even a rock and play with it like they were playing for
the World Championship.
Iraqis need soccer balls, and whoever started
Operation Soccer Ball, in my opinion, is brilliant. It was started as a way to
convey the goodwill of America and American soldiers by giving Iraqi children
soccer balls that they so desperately desire.
The love of sports, in
this case being soccer, is starting to become an instrument of peace and is
forming a common bond between the US and the Middle East. Its transcending
cultural differences and language barriers and its also mitigating the
aggravated feelings of some Iraqis that would rather not see US presence in
their land.
I found out about Operation Soccer Ball from a local radio
station in Tampa Bay WQYK. They contacted my company, PostcardMania, to print
posters promoting Operation Soccer Ball in an effort to raise money for the
cause and enable soccer balls be sent to soldiers in three different locations
in Iraq. The purpose of the mission was to solidify relationships with the
future leaders of Iraq by giving soccer balls out to the Iraqi children.
The program actually started in Tampa by a woman named Gina McDowell
whose son, PFC McDowell, is serving in the Army Reserves presently stationed in
Al Hillah Womens
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Reconstruction Team attached to the United States State Department. Gina came up
with the idea of collecting soccer balls when her son told her the impact they
had on Iraqi children. She then contacted WQYK to help spread the word and aid
in the collection.
Operation Soccer Ball was run through the local VFW.
(There may be other programs like this around the country.) And PostcardMania
printed the posters pro-bono. We do lots of pro-bono work for charities and
recently started doing more for the military. We were contacted this past summer
to help USO Georgia by printing 18,000 postcards for a large deployment of
American troops so theyd have postcards to write home to their families on one
last time before boarding their plane on their journey to the Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Well, I got a letter the other day that Operation Soccer
Ball was a big success over $8000 was raised for the project and all the monies
went directly to the cause which enabled WQYK to collect over 3500 soccer balls
and enough money to ship them (it costs close to $2 to ship each ball!). One
interesting note that really stood out was that after being befriended with a
soccer ball, some Iraqi children have risked their own safety by disclosing the
whereabouts of numerous IEDs (explosive devices) and insurgents to our soldiers.
Wow. Its amazing to me that a small gesture of a soccer ball can impact so many
lives.
Its the pleasure in life, or even the contemplation of pleasure,
that enriches our lives. For some it could be a trip to the Bahamas. For others,
it could be a stroll down memory lane with an old friendor the love of a good
game of basketball. But for the Iraqis, its the game of soccer. And a lot of
good people are creating a safer haven in the worn-torn Middle East with just a
few balls whod have thought?
Michael, a soldier in Iraq who has a blog on
the net, cited some Kiowa pilots from the 1st Cavalry Division that had been
dropping soccer balls from their helicopters after completing their missions.
One story in particular really struck a chord.
I remember this one time
when we came down, ready to drop a few balls and we see this kid standing off in
the distance. He had his arm cocked back to his ear Womens
Jordy Nelson Jersey , just ready to hurl a rock at us. I pulled one
of the balls out and tossed it to him. The kid just stood there for a second,
like he really wasnt sure what to do, but then he dropped that rock, grabbed the
ball and gave us the thumbs up. That was cool. ~Chief Warrant Officer Sonny
Hinchman, Kiowa pilot.
The Tampa Bay program has ended but hopefully this
story will inspire others across the nation to develop similar initiatives in
their cities. More corporations can get involved by donating soccer balls
monetary donations or donations of the soccer balls themselves with possibly a
company logo on each ball. What a great way to get exposure and positive
publicity after donating a few thousand balls. Even big conglomerates like Nike,
Microsoft or even city governments like NY, Atlanta, Houston or Tampa Bay can
get on the bandwagon. Heck lets rain soccer balls instead of bullets. Who knows,
we might just have the next World Champion Soccer Team on our Hands: Team
Iraq.
Other
resources:
www.anysoldier
www.Spiritofamerica.net
www.postcardmania
www.wqyk