I grew up poring over every issue of Outside Magazine I could get my hands on. I've always had a passion for the outdoors and every possible sport you could pursue there, especially anything related to a board or a bike. So I was pleasantly surprised to pick up a copy of the magazine in the San Francisco airport and find our product on the first page of their Ultimate Gift Guide.

Be sure to pick up their current issue with Michael Phelps on the cover. Here's a sneak peek of my favorite page:

The International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) and Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) of India recently released a report that details the extensive use of child labor in the production of soccer balls in two villages in India. The report claims that as many as ten major companies use the children in these villages to manufacture their soccer balls. All this despite the fact that the sporting goods industry supposedly put a stop to this practice over ten years ago when it was brought to light in neighboring Pakistan.

This report comes on the heels of a recently-aired segment on HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumble" entitled "Childhood Lost" that depicted Indian children stitching together Mitre soccer balls for a paltry 5 cents an hour. Some of the balls were even proudly labeled "CHILD LABOR FREE."

Most of these children are working to pay off debts incurred by their parents to the manufacturing company. This is the sort of despicable practice that occurred in the days of serfs and the feudal system centuries ago and has no place in any modern society.

Now, one of the named companies, Mitre, has filed suit against HBO, claiming that the segment defamed their company and that it wasn't just Mitre employing the children, but other companies as well. This is like getting pulled over for speeding then claiming that "everyone else was speeding too." That's not the point; the point is that you broke the law - duh - and now you have to face the natural consequences.

I've been asked repeatedly my thoughts on the situation, so here it is...Mitre (and everyone else involved) would be best served by putting their time, effort, and money into getting their sports ball facilities certified Fair Trade (like ours are) rather than suing HBO. The lawsuit - no matter who wins - will not benefit the sports ball stitchers in India, but having their facilities qualify for Fair Trade certification certainly would.

Pursuing Fair Trade certification would also benefit the Mitre brand; they would be seen as part of the positive solution, rather than the negative current public image of one corporation suing another. They are simply forgetting that this issue at its core is about human beings.

Recently, some certified Fair Trade soccer balls and volleyballs were donated to the annual American Martyrs Catholic Church of Manhattan Beach auction by one of our customers (shout out to Tom Hoffarth). Churches have been a gathering point for people for centuries and it’s important that the folks that attend these gatherings get educated about the Fair Trade movement.

Donating these balls to the church auction was a great way to not only promote the Fair Trade market and donate to a worthwhile charity, but give people a chance to buy one beforehand and maybe start a little buzz about it. Each ball came attached with a sheet telling why it was "special" and it was displayed with all of the other sports equipment that was up for silent auction.

What a great way to get the ball rolling (sorry, bad pun) a month early on the “Fairly Gifting: The Alternative Christmas Market” (more on that later).

There’s a Fair Trade market in Southern California this upcoming Sunday, November 16 called “Fairly Gifting: The Alternative Christmas Market" that will have all kinds of Fair Trade goods and services available for purchase, and our Fair Trade balls will be for sale at cost along with cards detailing the facts about Fair Trade and what it means to the world at large. This isn’t so much a fundraiser as it is an “awareness raiser” that helps to push the cause forward.

As political forces polarized our country this election season, it’s imperative that we break the stereotypes thrust upon us and reach out to everyone with our message of Fair Trade. Churches are a great place to raise awareness for the dual global problems of extreme poverty and exploitation that continue to plague the less-privileged peoples of the Earth.

For most of us, October simply means that school is back in full swing, the leaves are changing, and the days are getting shorter. The nights are getting longer and Halloween is fast approaching. For others, October (and fall/autumn in general) is also the time of year when our favorite sport picks up. Football and basketball, in particular, are perennial favorites.

For more and more folks out there, however, October has come to be Fair Trade Month. October is the month above all others in which we do our best to get out the message about Fair Trade. And this past month was a great success. We know that if people only knew about the horrific conditions and unfair treatment that workers and communities in impoverished countries receive that they would want to do something about it or contribute in some way. There’s no time like the present to let these people know the facts about Fair Trade and what it can mean to those people that need it the most.

Displays like the ones pictured above and below are good examples of how Fair Trade products can be displayed in a Fall theme that not only showcases the season and reminds folks about how it’s time to replace there worn footballs, but also gets across the message of Fair Trade and respect. Imagine walking past that window and simply seeing “RESPECT” printed across those footballs. It might make you wonder, "Hey, what’s that all about?" And that’s the point: to get people thinking and to get people talking—about Fair Trade.

As we now approach the Thanksgiving season here in North America, take some time to get the message out if you can. It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant; just talk to some people. Let them know about how some of their favorite products might be exploitative and let them know that there are alternatives.

Recently some kids in the West African nation of Ghana were fortunate enough to have some of our certified Fair Trade soccer balls hand-delivered to them by the good folks at The Office of Justice and Peace, Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The Office of Justice and Peace has been working hand-in-hand with Fair Trade LA to make this happen. Joan Harper's diligence and open-door policies that have allowed her to make Fair Trade LA a real coalition of like-minded individuals and organizations that work towards a common goal of Fair Trade.

The pictures we received of brothers Melvin and Kelvin Awiapo receiving their Fair Trade ball brought happy tears to my eyes. Every once in a while, it’s good to see the visual difference we are making in the lives of children living in remote, impoverished regions. Ghana and other countries have long been exploited by more wealthy nations and the time has come for us to amend the sins of our ancestors and contemporaries. This is a lofty goal, but when you see the joy on these kids' faces you can’t help but believe that it can be a reality.

Children like Melvin and Kelvin really do not know how bad they have it compared to other children in wealthier nations. Children in general are some of the happiest people on the planet and get by with what they have. They, more than anyone, are adept at making the most out of what they have on hand at the moment. That said; imagine their surprise at being given free soccer balls! No doubt they already have their own soccer balls—probably handed down from their older siblings or made themselves out of plastic bags—but these new balls bounce better, last longer, and bring with them a message of unity, Fair Trade, and respect.

One of the biggest lessons we can teach our children is respect - respect for themselves, respect for their friends and global peers, and respect for their environment. Respect lies at the core of the Fair Trade movement.

Cindy Hughes, a teacher and advocate of Fair Trade, wrote us recently to tell us how she's reached the young people in her classroom in Wilmington, Delaware. One day at an away game, Cindy noticed the home team playing with one of our Fair Trade soccer balls.

A few inspiring lessons later, her classroom began to be aware of the impact Fair Trade can have on the world. Fair Trade principles extend well beyond the playing field (and vice versa). Respect taught in the classroom helps our young people understand the importance of respect in athletic activities. Respect for the other players is not the only respect we need to spread - but also respect for the workers who sew the balls, create the fields and craft the uniforms we wear. Fair Trade Sports believes that this global respect can change the world.

Changing the world starts with just one person - from Cindy in Delaware to the producers we pay fair prices in Pakistan and India. Just one Fair Trade purchase can mean a meal, an education and new hope for producers around the world. Fair Trade in sports (and the classroom) benefits everyone.

All this was accomplished with one soccer ball and some open-minded professionals who truly care about the future of our global youth! Cindy thanked us for the work we do here, but we thank her for making an impact on our future generation!

Since October is officially Fair Trade month, I asked a well-known leader in the movement, Jackie DeCarlo, to do a guest post for us. Jackie is the Senior Fair Trade Officer for Catholic Relief Services (CRS), author of Fair Trade: A Beginner's Guide, and a fellow blogger. Here you go:

Setting aside that October is Fair Trade month, autumn can be an awkward season for me. The holidays are approaching, and as a Fair Trader my job is to get people in the gift-buying mode, even though I hate shopping! Also, when it comes to sports, I am a bit out of the loop. I prefer solitary jogging (less than 10 days until I finish the Marine Corps Marathon!) to team sports, but this is the season of Monday Night Football and qualifying for baseball’s World Series! Thank goodness Fair Trade Sports has come into my life: I can keep up my end of conversations at the office water cooler and send a message too!

For more than a decade, Catholic Relief Services has been committed to promoting Fair Trade through our crafts, coffee, and chocolate projects. As the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic community, CRS naturally finds Fair Trade as a way to put faith into practice in the marketplace. In fact, many of the core principles of Catholic Social Teaching, such as “working for the common good,” reflect Fair Trade practices such as organizing farmer cooperatives. With our program in more than 1,000 parishes and schools around the country, many of my colleagues are beginning to ask “What’s Next?” for promoting economic justice.

Enter the props of Fair Trade Sports! Whether I am holding up a rugby ball to demonstrate the process of harvesting cocoa pods in Ghana or dribbling a basketball in a large high school assembly, sports equipment helps me get attention! Once I make my general Fair Trade point, I take a moment to tell the story of the company behind the RESPECT logo. Students and adults alike are excited to know that Fair Trade is more than sipping the right cup of java or wearing the latest fashionable handcraft.

The Fair Trade leaders at Cabrini College in Pennsylvania took the notion on by organizing campus-wide awareness raising events that incorporated Fair Trade Sports equipment into a Wallyball tournament (here again, I didn’t even know what Wallyball WAS but the students got a whole tournament going!). CRS Fair Trade Ambassador Ann Green taught her son about Fair Trade and now his whole Ultimate Frisbee team is using it on the Texas A&M campus.

Those are one-off examples, though, and what is missing is an institutional commitment from faith-based organizations to purchase Fair Trade equipment for their youth groups or sports teams. Just as dining halls have converted to Fair Trade coffee, I can envision athletic departments expanding the values of good sportsmanship to encompass purchasing practices. That’s why CRS is proud to be exploring with the good folks at Fair Trade Sports how we can guide young people to the field of Fair Trade play.

Next month a dozen CRS sponsored students will be attending the United Students for Fair Trade convergence where Scott James will be doing a workshop. We fully expect those students to return to their campuses fired up and full of ideas for deepening Fair Trade campus commitments. If your school—faith based or secular—has succeeded at doing that, please share your ideas on this blog or give me a holler. As we’ve established, when it comes to sports, I could use all the help I can get. But with all these ideas generating, I am sure that faith-based groups will soon be ready to play ball!

~ Jackie

We all know that blogging has become a huge social networking tool used by all sorts of businesses and private writers to showcase ideas, events and news. Blogs can be used to help spread advocacy and awareness about international issues.

We use the Fair Trade Sports blog for spreading the movements of Fair Trade, abolition, and the root problem of extreme poverty. Today is this year's Blog Action Day 2008; the goal is to spread awareness specifically about Poverty.

Globally, poverty is a pervasive problem that will be solved only by international action. Every developed nation must band together to combat the top causes of poverty: disease, poor economic conditions and conflict.

How can one blog help in this fight against poverty? First, Blog Action Day 2008 is going to spread knowledge about poverty and new solutions through thousands of committed blogs. Do you have a blog? Then post today and spread the word! You'll join thousands of writers brainstorming and sharing their own stories about poverty. This alone brings advocacy to a whole new level.

Second, many of these bloggers are donating their profits for today to various charities connected to Global Action Day, just as we do every day. These charities include the Global Fund and Kiva. Both have improved the lives of hundreds of thousands in developing nations. The readers of the blogs on Blog Action Day 2008 can donate funds to these charities, and also purchase goods from participating blogging sites that will directly help developing nations.

If you're interested in participating, visit Blog Action Day 2008 right now for blogging ideas and more ways to help the fight against extreme poverty!

I'm reading through an advance copy of Seth Godin's new book called Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. As usual, it's quite good. I've been a fan of Godin since my high tech days, even sending him a soccer ball when we first launched Fair Trade Sports two years ago.

Godin talks alot about marketing; he is the defacto guru for internet marketing. I find his views on the subject fascinating given that I teach the Marketing class at Bainbridge Graduate Institute for MBA candidates. Godin is usually controversial in his views on Marketing, and usually correct.

In Tribes, he says (emphasis mine),

Marketing is the act of telling stories about the things we make-stories that sell and stories that spread. Marketing elects presidents, and marketing raises money for charity. Marketing also determines if the CEO stays or goes (Carly Fiorina learned this the hard way). Most of all, marketing influences markets.

This is what we're attempting to do with Fair Trade Sports. It's the reason our home page is the blog, rather than the ecommerce store. We're trying to tell stories that spread.

It's the reason we designate our after-tax profits for children's charities. We're trying to divert money in the direction of "helping organizations", rather than organizations that continue to destroy our culture, communities, and planet.

It's the reason we created Fair Trade Sports as a for-profit company. We're trying to influence markets in North America, Australia, and the UK by bringing a line of sports balls that is certified Fair Trade as an alternative to the normal sweatshop-made ones. I want to help change Nike, Adidas, Baden, and the rest of the big players into truly sustainable companies by showing them a company can compete and thrive in this market with a non-sweatshop ball and eco-materials.

Godin goes on to say,

Marketing used to be about advertising, and advertising is expensive. Today, marketing is about engaging with the tribe and delivering products and services with stories that spread.

At Fair Trade Sports, we eschew normal advertising (and the related paid celebrity endorsements) in favor for positive word-of-mouth. We ask our customers to help us spread the word about these alternative soccer balls that are the same quality and price (sometimes even more competitive on price) as the Top 5 brands we all know, but made under certified Fair Trade conditions and with eco-certified materials.

And you know what? Our customers say yes. I receive mail every week from more customers explaining how they are spreading the message of Respect in their own unique way.

Join us and help us spread the story!

September 22 marked the first day of Autumn, but today it feels like it really arrived. Seemingly overnight our temperatures dropped and our leaves began turning color. And the sun is setting a little earlier every night (ugh).

Such drastic change outside doesn't hinder the most serious players from pursuing their green dreams, though. At this time of the year, indoor soccer becomes a hit! Here in Washington State, a woman's indoor soccer team has entered their new season in style. Not only have they began using Fair Trade soccer balls, but they have traded in their old uniforms for new uniforms that Respect Fair Trade producers.

Tara Orr, seen holding the Fair Trade indoor soccer ball in this photo, has been our champion in telling others that there is an alternative to sweatshop labor soccer balls out there.

For those of you who play the form of indoor soccer known as futsal, we have an Earth-friendly futsal ball for you, too. Both the futsal ball and our indoor soccer ball are hand-sewn and made with care from producers who receive fair wages and benefits that improve their communities.