Lecture: Sports Illustrated’s Wolff ’80 discusses worldwide travels

It was a bit over a year ago when Sports Illustrated senior writer Alex Wolff ’80 set out on a journey across the world to examine how sports are used for more than just exercise and entertainment. On Wednesday night, Wolff spoke with a group of roughly 30 Princeton students about his journey and how he believes that people can change the world through sports.

At the Vancouver Olympics in February 2010, Wolff stumbled into a familiar face in Norwegian speedskating coach Johann Olav Koss. As Wolff described on Wednesday night, Koss had previously won three gold medals in speedskating at the Lillehammer Olympics in 1994. He then donated his bonus money from his medal-winning performances to Olympic Aid, a charity that helped establish sports leagues in impoverished countries. Koss had urged his fellow Norwegian citizens to donate as well, and they did, together giving $18 million over 10 days.

Koss himself flew to Eritrea, a small third-world country located on the horn of Africa, and delivered a plane full of sporting goods, including a well-received set of soccer balls. During their encounter in Vancouver, Koss explained to Wolff how Olympic Aid, now called “Right to Play,” had expanded its services to more than 20 countries worldwide.

Motivated by Koss’ words, Wolff wondered how other organizations across the world, like Right to Play, were using sports to change the world. After pleading for permission from Sports Illustrated, Wolff set off on a year-long journey in hopes of finding examples all over the world that demonstrated sports’ power in fixing local problems.

And did he find examples. From a boxing league in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro called “Fight for Peace,” which teaches computer skills, the importance of citizenship, and how to resolve conflict as well as self-defense, to “Grassroot Soccer” in South Africa, which uses soccer and the implementation of the sport’s themes in society to fight HIV. Wolff described Grassroot Soccer’s creativity with an example of how, during the World Cup in the summer of 2010, red cards saying “Hands Off!” were distributed by bars to young women, who were instructed to pull them out if they were being pursued by an older man.

Throughout his talk, Wolff described how, in every community he saw, one person’s action had made the difference. The talk concluded with a panel of students, who shared how they have seen Princeton sports make a difference across the world. The women’s basketball team’s trip to Senegal, the women’s soccer team’s service in Nicaragua and the men’s soccer team’s penalty kick fundraiser this season were all mentioned as ways that Princeton’s athletic teams have made a positive impact on the world.

Wolff’s project featured in Sports Illustrated’s Sept. 26 issue, promoted on the cover above the face of Brad Pitt (from “Moneyball”).