Source : ABC NEWS
Emily Hessell makes balls. To be more precise, she makes soccer balls from scratch.
“There’s not much more to it than that,” she said.
Two cultural forces brought Emily — known to many as Hess — to the art of ball-making: social media platform TikTok and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a video from content creator and ball-maker Jon-Paul Wheatley made its way onto Emily’s algorithm. While the video caught her attention, a few more years went by before she took up the tools herself, facilitated by a new-found obsession with the women’s game.
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Finding fandom with the Women’s World Cup
Like many casual football followers in Australia, the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup was the catalyst for converting Emily into an avid fan of the game.
During the tournament, she and wife Blair attended games in their hometown of Perth and became immersed in the Tillies’ historic run.
Now, they wake up in the middle of the night to watch European fixtures (Emily follows Chelsea, Blair follows Arsenal), have travelled interstate to watch games, and are currently planning their upcoming holiday around attending the European Championships in Switzerland later this year.
“I definitely did not do this a few years ago,” she said.
“We had mates that would get up to watch Premier League and we’d be like, ‘You’re crazy. Why don’t you just watch it in the morning?’ And now it’s like, ‘Oh, I get it.'”
The 2023 Women’s World Cup transformed Emily and wife Blair from casual football fans into self confessed tragics. (Supplied: Rebecca Ruthven)
When Jon-Paul reappeared on Emily’s feed in 2024, this time she thought, “I reckon I can do that.”
After that first ball came another, and then another, and then another, with Emily now averaging one ball a week.
She already had a history of dabbling in different crafts, including quilting, 3D printing, woodworking and leather work. Yet none had captivated her to the same extent.
Maths, creativity and lots of stitching
The different elements of ball-making combine into what Emily describes as the “perfect hobby”.
The capacity to translate idea into reality is supported by her professional background as a window installer and drafter. The design process — drawing up patterns, picking out colour combinations — blends fandom and creative expression with her love for mathematics.
Emily describes ball making as the “perfect hobby”. (Supplied: Rebecca Ruthven)
Once a design is ready, Emily shapes anywhere from 12 to over 100 individual pieces using a laser cutter. Each panel is typically made of kangaroo leather offcuts purchased in assorted bags. Smaller offcuts are generated throughout the process and then incorporated into future creations, with Emily aiming to make it as sustainable as possible.
Then comes the longest part — stitching, more stitching, installing a bladder (the part that inflates), and then a whole lot more stitching. The ability to do this from just about any seated position is particularly appealing.
“It was kind of a hobby that was creative without needing to set up a table saw or set up a sewing machine. I could literally just do this on the couch,” Emily said.
“I don’t have to be fully focused [and] zoned in on the thing that I’m doing… It’s quite a therapeutic, almost meditative, hobby.”
By using offcuts of kangaroo leather, Emily attempts to make her process as sustainable as possible. (Supplied: Rebecca Ruthven)
Depending on the complexity of the design, it can take Emily anywhere from three to 30 hours to create one ball from start to finish. Unsurprisingly, she’s gotten much quicker: the design she used for her first ball now takes her around 4 hours to complete, compared to the 15 hours it took first time round.
With her skill improving, the possibilities for experimentation with designs and materials have expanded — for example, she has created balls out of dishcloths and cane toad leather.
One milestone was creating a replica of the ball that started it all.
“I saw the video of Jon-Paul making a similar ball and was like, ‘Wow, that is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.’ And I thought it was so unattainable to be able to make that,” she said.
“And then six, nine months later, I made it.”
The end product is now her favourite in her collection.
Depending the complexity of the design, Emily spends between three and 30 hours making a ball. (Supplied: Rebecca Ruthven)
A viral video sharing the story so far
While Emily initially posted to social media so friends and family could follow along, she didn’t anticipate an audience beyond that. Blair held a different view.
“[Blair] was like, ‘I want to try and get people seeing what you’re doing, because they will find this interesting.'”
Having captured footage of Emily’s efforts along the way, Blair convinced Emily to post a video she had put together using footage she had captured of Emily’s efforts along the way.
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The video amassed over 30,000 views, an uptick in social media following, and Blair’s ongoing appointment as social media manager.
“The stuff that has come out of Blair doing this one video has been kind of insane,” Emily said.
“I just didn’t expect people to care. That sounds a bit ridiculous, but I just didn’t think that many people would be like, ‘Oh, this is cool.’ It’s just something I enjoy doing. It’s just my creative outlet.”
Staying connected to the fandom
Blair also had some not-so-ulterior motives for finding a new audience, given Emily’s proficiency.
“Blair was like, ‘I just want you to start selling these balls so that we don’t have balls in every single room of the house,'” she laughed.
This has paid off, with orders being made on her Etsy store from across the globe.
“I think I had one sale before that video and I’ve had 10 in the last month now,” she said.
“It’s kind of like just crazy to me that I’m just sat here in Perth and people are seeing that and being like, ‘I want one of them’… From one little video on TikTok, opportunities have come that I just never expected.”
Emily now sells her balls online and has filled orders from around the world. (Supplied: Rebecca Ruthven)
The increased attention and interest, while exciting, does present some challenges.
“I feel like [before] this video I would just make a ball because I was like, ‘I want to make this.’ Whereas now I’m like, ‘I’ve got to make content out of this, and find a way to make this interesting,'” Emily said.
In navigating the balance between leisure and productivity, Emily is aware of staying connected to what drew her to ball-making to begin with.
“If it becomes too much like I’m just doing this for other people then I know I’m not going to enjoy it. But right now, I’m still enjoying it and I’m trying not to burn out by doing too much,” she said.
“Whether I spend a couple of hours a week or whether I spend a whole day doing it, I’m doing this because I’m enjoying it. I am doing this because I’m having fun.”
ABC Sport is partnering with Siren Sport to elevate the coverage of Australian women in sport.
Angela Christian-Wilkes is a PhD candidate researching women’s soccer media makers, co-host of the ESPN podcast The Far Post, and an avid social futsal player.
