Inclusion by design
Photos: Anita Milas
It’s a sign trophy designers have nailed the brief when you have to join a queue—and keep getting ever so politely bumped down said queue—to obtain a photo with the finished product.
Such was the case with the newly unveiled Homeless World Cup women’s trophy, which was created by FIFA based on input from some long-time Homeless World Cup participants.
Unveiled by Homeless World Cup ambassador, former Palestinian women’s football team captain, and now FIFA communications executive Honey Thaljieh in the presence of the 16 women’s team captains, the Open Rose trophy features flowing gold struts signifying the leaves of a blooming flower. Those struts are then supporting and elevating a silver globe.
The trophy was designed based on a Homeless World Cup brief and input from a panel that included Homeless World Cup board member Kate McCheyne, as well former player turned coach Lisa Wrightsman, and longtime volunteers photographer Anita Milas and writer Fiona Crawford. Even having previewed the design, the panel was wowed by the final trophy product. ‘I have to say it’s pretty exciting to see it come to fruition. It was a hypothetical until right now,’ they said.
Admiring the trophy, they noted that it’s an authentic design, informed by years of experience and maturing, expanding women’s competition. ‘So it captures the spirit of the women even more deeply than it perhaps may have 10 years ago. It’s inclusion by design.’
All agreed it was a really elegant design and is, in essence, ‘something that would be really nice to hold and lift up. It’s a trophy you’d want to walk through an airport with.’
Which women’s team will lift the trophy will be determined in the next two days as the Homeless World Cup reaches its final stages. But, based on the length of the queue for photographs and the atmosphere after the unveiling, the trophy reveal provided a boost for the players at the opportune time—the trophy they are in contention for is near and tangible.
Photo: Anita Milas
Words: Fred Crawford
Photos: Anita Milas
