SOCCER SCIENCE: Amelia shows off her Press-Sure Soccer Ball.
Amelia Day has been playing soccer since she was 4 years old. So when a teacher assigned a project asking students to develop a solution to a real-world problem, Amelia immediately knew what to focus on. She wanted to use her love of soccer to help others. The 15-year-old from Washington state came up with the idea for a soccer training tool, called the Press-Sure Soccer Ball.
Like many soccer players, Amelia often struggled with accurately kicking the ball. “When you kick a ball incorrectly hundreds of times, you never really improve,” she says. Her solution was to create a high-tech ball that lets people know when they’ve properly landed a kick.
Amelia soon realized that her invention could aid more than just aspiring athletes. It could also help people undergoing physical therapy to restore balance and muscle control after an injury. Amelia’s idea landed her a place as a finalist at the 2016 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge.
Amelia Day has been playing soccer since she was 4 years old. One day, a teacher assigned a project asking students to find a solution to a real-world problem. Right away, Amelia knew what to focus on. She wanted to use her love of soccer to help others. The 15-year-old from Washington State came up with the idea for a soccer-training tool. It’s called the Press-Sure Soccer Ball.
Amelia had the same problem as many soccer players. She struggled with kicking the ball properly. “When you kick a ball incorrectly hundreds of times, you never really improve,” she says. Her solution was to create a high-tech ball. It lets people know when they’ve properly landed a kick.
Amelia’s invention could help new athletes. But she soon realized that it could also help people after an injury. They needed to go through physical therapy to get back balance and muscle control. Others liked Amelia’s idea too. She was named a finalist at the 2016 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge.