Designed as a 54-part puzzle that can easily be assembled on-site, the My Football Kit by Nendo aims at creating a long-lasting football for low-income areas that doesn’t deflate or need re-inflating. The ball’s design is inspired by Japanese woven bamboo balls, with interlocking and interwoven elements that can easily be repaired or replaced on the fly.
Football is a sport that has universal appeal, with even countries in Africa, South America, and Asia being as (if not more) invested as their more affluent European counterparts. However, while footballs are easily and readily available, repairing or maintaining footballs can often be difficult for people from low-income neighborhoods, creating a class-disparity in being able to play the game long-term. Nendo’s answer to it is a ball that never needs inflating in the first place. Named the ‘My Football Kit’, Nendo’s solution is a 54-part puzzle that comes together to form a football. Made from recycled polypropylene and elastomeric synthetic resin components, the resulting ball is robust, soft, and bounces just as well as a regular football, but doesn’t need inflating. Instead, its interlocking pieces maintain the spherical shape of the ball thanks to their structural design.
The interlocking system designed into the football is so uniquely innovative, that even if a component breaks off or gets damaged, the ball will still continue to hold its shape and will not disassemble, ensuring the game goes on uninterrupted. To fix the ball, its missing component can be replaced, and if broken, can be easily repaired. This makes maintaining the football much simpler and provides a much more economically effective alternative to buying a new football or a pump.
All 54 pieces of the My Football Kit come disassembled in a flat-package (sort of like IKEA furniture) to reduce their carbon footprint while shipping. They can easily be assembled on-site (giving people a fun pre-game activity), and the possible inclusion of colored components allows players to customize their football too, helping build a bond between the user and product. A drawstring bag comes included in the kit too, so the owner of the ball can easily carry it back home – either intact or disassembled!
