Mastering Balls of Hands and Feet

In the world of Pokémon, Trainers are people who master the eponymous creatures, which often reside in Poké Balls that they throw out with their hands. In the real world, some athletes master a different kind of ball, the soccer ball, which they kick up with their feet. Combine the two, and interesting results might just occur. And that is exactly what is happening in jolly old England with a program and campaign for youths to be able to buff up their sport skills in a really fun way.

Pokémon, together with the FA of England (their soccer association), have partnered to create the FA Pokémon Youth Futsal Program with a campaign called "Master the Ball" accessible through a site of the same title (www.mastertheball.com). The program and campaign is part of a youth futsal competition to draw in athletic youths to develop their skills while they compete in a fairly fun manner. It should be noted that futsal is only a downscaled and indoor form of soccer, but its play is much the same and can develop each other, so it still makes sense. The competitive season is due to start in September along with that for soccer, and team registration has yet to open, but with Pokémon in the mix, it should be fun when things happen later this year.

To make things even more fun, certain teams will receive a "Pokémon bundle" full of goodies for the teams. Most of the goodies, including a duffel bag and a Pokémon Futsal handbook, are notably to help teams take their practice to the next level, so to speak, and that includes a ball that is colored like - what else - a Poké Ball. So iconic is this ball that it figures prominently in promotional materials for all things related to the program and campaign. The bundle even includes an exclusive TCG card of "Pikachu on the Ball" featuring Pikachu and the iconic ball. If anything, this would be the primary incentive for signing up a team into the program and competition, aside from the noble goals as above.

A program and campaign like this is surely fun and lively. But it would be even more fun and lively with a few other promotions - more specifically, some promotional videos on YouTube. These promotional videos contain a few of England's current stars in soccer, certainly with a few Pokémon twists. The "core promotional video" even contains animated Pokémon in action along with those same stars, but what's even more fun is when some of those stars duke it out on the futsal court with a few Pokémon twists, which are in other promotional videos... but I'd like to separate their discussion into another post, as this post is already detailed enough for their key link.

Futsal (and soccer, by extension) is a real-world sport. Pokémon battling would be the sport of the Pokémon world, as I've postulated once. In the minds of fans and athletes alike, there shouldn't be any real reason for them not to mingle, and it seems the FA of England and Pokémon can't disagree with this new program and campaign. They're looking for people who can truly master the skills of the ball game with feet, and after that, hopefully the game of monsters appearing from balls thrown with hands.

One year ago: It's a-Mario Time

Two years ago: Going Big in Galar

Three years ago: Pokémon Archetypes

Four years ago: New Paradigms