Bala Sport Keeping everything in sport fair
WHAT DOES FAIR TRADE IN SPORTS MEAN TO YOU? Bala Sport was founded in Glasgow in 2014 and is a social enterprise and a co-operative. It was founded by Angus Coull after a group of likeminded individuals linked to the Scottish Fair Trade Forum got together with the shared aim of providing a fairer deal for developing country sports ball workers. Angus explains that some were passionate about sports and others about Fairtrade, so it was a good fit. Angus’ own motivations began whilst producing a series of three radio programmes on the subject of Fairtrade for the BBC World Service. After seeing the difference in conditions for Fairtrade and non-Fairtrade coffee growers in Ethiopia he was convinced of the positive impact a simple ethical choice that we as consumers in the UK can make.
“We got together with a fellow Fairtrade enthusiast and Fairtrade sports ball pioneer in Brighton, Jamie Lloyd who was already importing balls from Pakistan,” Angus explains, “We partnered with him before he handed the business over to us. So, we’ve pretty much created an international sports ball brand from scratch with the unique selling point of being Fairtrade certified and allowing consumers an ethical choice in sports ball purchase.” Since 2014 they have established a strong client base in schools throughout the UK and are seeing an increase in interest from grassroots football, futsal and rugby clubs. They are the official match ball of the Scottish futsal league having worked with them to develop the specifications of balls they need and have provided the match balls for the Homeless World Cup twice. This was in fact Fairtrade history with the tournament in Glasgow
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