Thursday, 28th March 2024 10:19
Home / News / Is it a hoodie or a ball? Both…and a lifesaver too

Few things have the power to change a child’s life like play. Sadly, many children don’t get the chance to play.

That’s where Right To Play comes in. The Stars Group’s official charity partner since 2014, RTP has raised more than £1.5 million to help vulnerable children around the world. And today they’ll be raising lots more through two special promotions.


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The special edition Right To Play hoodie, in black

The charitable giving arm of The Stars Group, Helping Hands, has teamed up with Right To Play to create a limited-edition hoodie. But it’s not just any old hoodie. This one is also a soccer ball. It’s true: although parents the world over may normally struggle to get their children to fold their clothes, there’s an added incentive for this one.

If you follow five simple steps to fold the hoodie in the correct way, you can turn it into a ball.

The hoodie honors a young boy from Eritrea who found out that his hoodie-folding abilities made him remarkably popular in the playground, where sports equipment was scarce. A visiting humanitarian ambassador — Norwegian speed skater Johann Olav Koss, representing Olympic Aid, which latterly became Right To Play — noticed the boy’s popularity and learnt the reason, and eventually decided to market to hoodie/ball back home.

How to turn a hoodie into a football

It finally hit the shelves today. As of this afternoon, you can visit the Stars Store to buy your own football-making hoodie in red or black. And if you happen to be attending EPT Monte Carlo, you can buy one from the on-site store. Regardless of where you purchase, 100 percent of the profits from their sales will be donated to Right To Play. They cost $40, an amount that can do extraordinary good.

The hoodie was the centerpiece of the action earlier today here at Sporting Club Monte-Carlo in the Right To Play Keepie-Uppie Challenge.

A lot of poker players tried their hands at juggling the ball/hoodies, with mixed results. (Don’t worry, they have other talents.)

See how a few of them fared in the clip below:


Today’s other special event is the EPT Monte Carlo Right To Play Charity Tournament. Set to begin at 7pm CET tonight in the Americas Room at Monte Carlo Bay, it sports a $300 buy-in and unlimited $100 rebuys for the first hour of play. Register in the normal way, at the desk in the Sporting Club lobby.

Beyond the chance to support a great cause, you can also pick up some valuable prizes:

Place Prize
1st EPT Barcelona package (€8,766 value)
2nd EPT Open Madrid package (€2,510 value)
3rd EPT National ticket (€1,100 value)
4th Win The Button ticket (€550 value)
5th Hotel + dinner donated by PokerStars Travel

UPDATE: Between their €300 buy-ins and €100 rebuys, the field of 33 players combined to raise €21,900 for Right To Play. A heartfelt thank you to everybody who came out to support this worthy cause!


Back in 2016 PokerStars visited Accra, Ghana, with England rugby star Mike Tindall to see firsthand the impact Right To Play has had there. Brad Willis was along for the ride and produced two unforgettable stories: Hidden hope and the Princess of Jamestown and Running toward New Horizon.

Right To Play reaches 1.9 million children per week at 2,600 schools in 15 countries throughout Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

Click and swipe left/right to see some of the hoodie-ball keepie-uppie players in action:

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