Soccer/football can affect social change. It can be inspirational. It can teach us about other cultures. It can be the vice that keeps a group of imprisoned South Africans sane in a country filled with irrational brutal dictators.
The story of Robben Island is all of the previous statement and more. Essentially the imprisoned men that would go on to break apartheid in South Africa used the game of soccer as a form of resistance against the inhuman and vindictive captors holding them against their will.
What is even more amazing about this story is that most of the persons being held on Robben Island were essentially political enemies like the Democrats and Republicans in our modern day U.S. But using the league they created they were able to build a vision for their future nation. Picture George Bush and Barack Obama and all of the important players in our two political parties in the U.S. via the game of soccer. Sounds improbable right, well that's what happened on Robben Island some 50 years ago.
Enjoy ESPN's World Cup commercial, it gives me goose bumps every time I watch, and trust me I am going to watch it a lot in the next 55 days.
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