Vail Valley: Local inventor hopes to change soccer training
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After four years and dozens of prototypes, Vail Valley inventor Harald Fricker has what he believes will become a standard training tool for soccer players of all ages – the MoonBall.
The lightweight ball is designed help develop ball-handling skills. Hestarted working on the design during the 2006 World Cup, when his son Miles was starting to practice his soccer-ball handling skills.
“As I watched him I saw a certain frustration in those first weeks of learning all those skills with a standard soccer ball that weighs nearly a pound,” Fricker said.
He knew that coaches sometimes had their players take home balloons to practice, but when his son tried this it was actually too easy and he quickly became bored. Fricker then started looking for a ball that was lightweight but more challenging. He couldn’t find one – they all fell too quickly.
Using video of his son’s practice, Fricker started to believe that a training ball’s behavior should mimic that of a regulation weight ball being juggled on the moon.
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With the name in mind, the ball had to follow.
After trying helium in different lightweight balls, hollowing out foam balls and dozens of other experiments, as well as working different product development labs in India, China, and elsewhere he has now found two ways to make the final product. Instead of using helium, the floating effect of the balls is achieved using precise formula of size, weight and materials.
While developed for soccer training, Fricker said the MoonBall makes a great toy, too. And, he said, it’s virtually house proof, even compared to Nerf balls.
Besides crossing over to the toy and balloon industries Fricker sees a use for volleyball skill training, as well as the potential for custom-designed logo balls for soccer clubs or corporate sponsors.
“I can honestly say that everyone who has had a chance to use this ball wants one, bar none,” Fricker said.
Fricker is involved with the non-profit, Colorado-based “Inventor’s Roundtable,” which provides budding inventors with valuable resources and mentoring at twice-monthly meetings throughout the state. He’s also looking for a way to encourage local students eager to be inventors and entrepreneurs. He plans to offer internships and workshops once the MoonBall has launched.
