HUNGERBALL® Otago’s new operator – Jake Ward

The passion that drives the people behind HUNGERBALL® motivated our latest operator to join the team in our southernmost location – Otago!

Jake Ward is now delivering HUNGERBALL® in a region renowned for its dedication to all things sporty. He sees enormous potential for this hyper-inclusive game that all ages and abilities can play.

“At a HUNGERBALL® holiday programme event there was a child who had struggled to engage with the other kids,” says Jake. “The only day he went home with a smile was when he played HUNGERBALL® and when we received the feedback, I found out HUNGERBALL® was the only fun thing he had done since his dad had died. That had a really big impact on me. I’ll never forget it.”

Jake started out coaching HUNGERBALL® with Wellington football clubs and school holiday programmes and he is excited to bring the fast, fun and infinite game to Dunedin and the Otago region.

“HUNGERBALL® appeals to me because I’ve seen how much everybody enjoys playing the game. It’s a game that everyone is involved, and nobody misses out.”

Jake aims to take HUNGERBALL® to schools, after-school care programmes, holiday events, shopping centres, and community centres – anywhere that people want to have a go and have fun while upping their physical activity.

He’s impressed by the impact HUNGERBALL® has had in other parts of New Zealand and says he is motivated by Andu Iordache’s passion for HUNGERBALL®.

Andu founded HUNGERBALL® in New Zealand, basing it on a soccer-inspired street game he played with his neighbourhood friends in the confined concrete spaces of urban Romania.

As an adult, Andu saw that the inclusive values, energy, imagination and infinite possibilities that shape street games like his are what makes them so enduring.

For more information contact Jake at hungerball.otago@gmail.com or phone 027 752 721