Park Social Soccer Co. - Givemas Day Four

PARK is a football brand designed to help youth in need by donating half of all profits from their unique apparel and designs towards connecting underprivileged children to community clubs and charities around the world. KOS recently spoke with PARK Co-Founder and Creative Director Sam Davy to discover his vision for change for people and for the planet.

Thanks so much for chatting to us Sam! PARK is such an interesting initiative with a combination of channels for good. Why did you feel like soccer could be an opportunity for connection and change across the globe?

Football is the world game, the one sport that is played by such a diverse group of people around the globe. The sheer diversity of our sport has the power to engender empathy and compassion.

And the beauty is that you need very little to play it. All you need is a ball! So what better vehicle to try and create change from.

In a previous interview you’ve stated that your son’s disregard for his soccer kit was a driving force in creating accessibility and opportunity for youth in need. Have you found that your relationship with your children has continued to be central to your passion for change?

Absolutely! The world we end up leaving behind will be for them; for the next generation of changemakers.

That is a huge reason behind PARK’s ethos and values - how can we leave the world in a better place than when we found it?

What were the initial days like building PARK from the ground up in 2015 and how has it grown since?

Even before PARK had been properly established, Tara (PARK co-founder) and I went to Lombok, Indonesia for our first giving trip to better understand how this would work and whether it was fulfilling a need.

And on our trip, we stumbled across a kids school match. They tell us that they don’t have a ball, and that one of the coaches has gone to go get one.

Hearing that, I went to our car where we had a whole bunch of balls, and gave them a few so they could play their game. Realising there was a need for this, that moment sealed the deal for us.

Today, we’ve started over 1 million games of football for kids in over 36 countries.

One of the initiatives PARK has is the ‘Pass A Ball’ Project, partnering with charities to donate a PARK ball to a child in need for every one that is purchased. This project has started over 1 million games of football for kids in 36 countries, from Australia to Kasese, Uganda. How have you seen this project make an impact on children and communities in need firsthand?

I got a phone call really late at night from a US Serviceman stationed in the Middle East, in and around the borders of Iraq, Syria and Jordan. He had seen the area decimated by conflict and how football can become a channel to rebuild. 

He said that if I could get him some balls, he could distribute them through the Iraqi Soccer Project - a movement he started. He wanted to get 1000’s of balls to kids in remote conflict zones and hard to reach parts of the region.

So we shipped 500 balls from our New York office to a central army base in New Orleans. From there, army transport took the balls to where he was out in the field.

He started driving the balls out to local villages and towns. He partnered with the Jordanian Army to distribute them to kids in refugee camps. For more remote areas, he flew them out on helicopters.

That moment showed how this project could impact children and communities regardless of where they were across the globe.

While the main goal of ‘Pass A Ball’ is to aid migrant and disadvantaged communities, you also mention that it ‘educates advantaged kids about the imbalance of opportunity among their peers.’ How have you seen this in action?

The ball is a conversation starter. We received a review from a customer who let us know that they had a great conversation with their kids about the “Pass A Ball” concept.

Together, they spoke about where the ball ended up, about inequality and how buying this ball was creating some change for another kid somewhere across the globe.

Change can often begin with a simple conversation.

What have been some of the most notable charities and organisations you’ve collaborated with on this project and why did you specifically select those groups to work with?

A real standout was working with Welcoming Australia. During the COVID lockdown in Melbourne, we partnered with them to deliver balls to the kids living in the towers of North Melbourne, keeping them engaged and occupied during a testing period.

Children need play. Knowing they were locked down in those towers with limited opportunity to actually get moving, we hoped that the balls would encourage them to get creative in their own homes.

The ‘Community Soccer Hub’ is one of the sports community clubs supported by ‘Pass A Ball.’ Could you tell us more about your involvement with this initiative and its purpose?

The Community Soccer Hub is dedicated to providing quality, free and structured programs for disadvantaged communities. It runs 7 days a week for all ages with dedicated girls programs too!

Born out of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) and the Centre for Multicultural Youth, organisations that we’ve supported since PARK started. When the Community Soccer Hub, it felt like a natural extension of our existing partnership.

We are proud to have been supplying balls to the program for over 3 years now!

The ‘Community Soccer Hub’ creates opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds living in Melbourne’s west to connect and participate in a local Australian sports club. Being Melbourne based yourself, why did you feel it was important for you to support Melbourne’s west specifically?

Often when we talk about change, it is easy to ignore the need for change in your own backyard. We are proud to be based in Melbourne and working with the Community Soccer Hub was an opportunity to create meaningful change right here, at home.

Melbourne’s West is a beautifully diverse community, and a community mad about football. We are proud to play a small part in cultivating that passion together with the Hub!

Other impactful projects PARK have worked on include collaborations with Uniqlo giving disadvantaged girls access to the benefits of playing soccer and with INCU supporting refugee kids who have recently arrived in Australia. What collaboration or project has been a highlight for you over the past six years?

It’s hard to pick one - they’ve all been highlights! However, seeing our footballs in FIFA21 and bringing impact into the game has been a major highlight!

What hopes and plans do you have for the growth of these projects in future?

It’s simple - we want to start 1 million more games for more kids in more countries!! The more places we can bring the power of football, the better!

How can our readers help support disadvantaged youth in marginalised communities through PARK?

Join the movement! And I mean that beyond buying footballs and repping our gear. If you have stories to share or a cause you want to shed some light on - get in touch, we’d love to hear them all!

WORDS: JOANNE FONG & NATALIE WILLIAMS
PHOTOGRAPHY: PARK SOCCER SOCIAL CO.