Stories from the Sidelines

Twenty-five years pointing a camera at people in sport, and not one of those films was ever really about sport.

From a mother in São Paulo whose voice became the way her blind son fell in love with football.

To a four-year-old who had never met anyone like him, until a professional footballer put her arm against his.

To a goalkeeper who had quietly decided he was finished, until John Terry picked up the phone and asked him to come to a match.

All the way to Ghana, where five girls left their homes to try to make something of themselves, and told me exactly what it cost them to go.

These are the stories going on behind the game, and they’re the part I’ve cared about in every organization I’ve ever worked with.

I’ve said for years that there is no Right to Dream story without the stories inside Right to Dream. Same with FIFA. Same with every club I’ve ever been around. The stories aren’t something an organization has. They’re what it’s made of.