About Bala Sport
Due to Coronavirus our office is currently closed but we are still open for business online as usual.
Bala Sport Description
The Goal
We all like to play fair – right? Well sometimes big brands don’t let us – to bring us the cheapest balls they might skimp on how much they pay the factory - and it’s more often than not that workers and hand stitchers are the ones that lose out.
Bala Sport was formed to level the playing field between sports consumers and the makers of the balls through a fair price and fair working conditions – and still offer the best quality equipment for enhanced performance.
This brand new co-operative organisation was set up to expand the availability and use of ethically produced Fairtrade sports balls focusing initially on footballs in the UK and beyond. Soon we plan to introduce rugby balls and netballs into the range.
The Fairtrade Mark is the most widely recognised ethical label globally and trusted by 89% of UK consumers.
A key role of this co-operative is to raise awareness of the issues around Fairtrade sports balls and how they help make a difference in the lives of some of the estimated 40, 000 workers in Sialkot, Pakistan (where around 70% of the world’s hand-stitched balls are made).
When a high quality Fairtrade certified football is sold in the UK the buyer is guaranteed that the men and women who made these hand stitched products are paid a fair wage and benefit from fair working conditions and also the additional Fairtrade Premium. This is a cash sum used for social, economic and environmental development projects decided upon through a democratic process and typically include free healthcare and educational projects for workers and their families and the wider community.
Recent stats show that retail sales of Fairtrade certified products as a whole in the UK generated £23 million in Fairtrade Premium. This organisation will ensure that in future the amount benefiting sports ball workers in Pakistan will rise significantly.
Bala Sport is also committed however to supporting sports teams closer to home and help bring people of all backgrounds together through sport and ball games.