The point of The Original Winger is to showcase the things that we individually and collectively like and find inspiring, which in turn is an extension of what we do and what inspires us with Bumpy Pitch. For me personally, the things that inspire me most are soccer, culture, music and art (amongst many others). I believe deep down that soccer and art have a connection and that when you are able to partner the two of them you can come up with something incredible. This does not include those cheesy soccer drawings and posters that I grew up with and that are still out there, but rather people taking a look at the sport and how it impacts their life and and how all of this translates into art.

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Nike has put together something they call the Nike 1/1 Collective. This program is all about combining art and soccer. There are world renowned artist taking place, but anybody can submit a design or a piece of artwork. Reading the site and seeing how soccer inspires people around the world inspires me in a new way.

Soccer and art is a special subject for me. When we first started Bumpy Pitch people looked at us like we were crazy. We were told that soccer was about what took place on the field, and that there was no real culture or lifestyle that surrounded it. We were told make jerseys or standard soccer gear or don’t bother at all. We stuck to our original course and now there seems to be countless others who are looking at the game in a whole new way. The culture that the game inspires is beautiful and representative of people around the world.

We will continue on our intended path, because we don’t know anything else…it is who we are. And as we do it looks like there will be plenty of others joining the community.

Well done on this one Nike.

Pic Via Dominic Wilcox