Global Forum for Sports and Environment
Program Redistributes 2 Million Tennis Balls
To mark the occasion, a ceremony was held at Kojimachi Primary School in Tokyo—one of the schools taking part in the program--on 4 September with special guests Shuzo Matsuoka, a former pro tennis player and Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) Environmental Specialist, and Tatsuo Okada, Executive Director of NPO Global Sports Alliance (GSA). The school has so far received about 3000 tennis balls from the program, and after signing the 2 millionth ball, Shuzo presented it to one of the students. Addressing the school he talked about a tournament he participated in in China as a pro player, where the air pollution was so bad a number of players developed breathing difficulties. These experiences first awakened him to the need to protect our natural environment. Visiting Athens during the Olympics with the JOC, he remarked how environmentally aware the children were in the Primary school he visited and he strongly impressed upon the students the need to “think environment!” More than 1500 schools around Japan have taken part in the program. The tennis balls, which are collected from sports clubs, organizations and manufacturers, are fixed to the bottom of tables and chairs in the classroom. Not only does this reduce wear and tear on the floors, but drastically reduces extraneous noise, creating a better learning atmosphere. Demonstrating the use that can still be found in materials we label as ‘garbage’ and stressing the importance of not wasting the earth’s precious natural resources, the program offer a practical application to reinforce environmental aspects of the school curriculum. The initiative has been especially welcomed in schools with hearing impaired children, as their hearing aids are especially sensitive to sudden loud noise or background interference. In addition to the ‘tennis ball reuse initiative’, Sports-Eco.Net is also involved in giving children in developing countries a ‘sporting chance’ by sending used sports equipment to countries such as Kenya, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. LINKS: |
Sports-Eco.Net, a grassroots program to “reduce, reuse and recycle” sports equipment run by NPO Global Sports Alliance (GSA), announced that it’s ‘tennis ball reuse initiative’ that sends old or unused tennis balls to schools around Japan, has just crossed the 2-million ball mark.