Messenger - Vol. 2, No. 2, Page 25 Winter 1993 Alumni Profile: Wildlife gets a sporting chance The face of soccer has gone wild-wild with stripes, spots and colors. Not just another soccer ball, the Wildball is brightly colored with simulated skin patterns of wild animals-zebras, cheetahs, panthers, leopards and tigers. "We've taken something common and put a different twist on it," says Wildball creator Mark Manniso, Delaware '84, who manages Forte Sports in Newark, Del. A percentage of each Wildball sale is donated to the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF). "This is a great cause that we really believe in," he says. "With each ball, we educate about rare and endangered species, and we include an application to join AWF." The original idea for Wildballs actually came from a Dr. Seuss book, Horton the Elephant Hatches the Egg, a story about jungle animals that Manniso says he has read to his children many times. One night after putting his girls to bed, he started doodling with Crayolas and, voila, the flamboyant Wildball was born. His wife, Karen Olson Manniso, Delaware '84, a physical education teacher, tested the ball in her classes, and kids loved it, her husband says. While a student, Manniso was the "Hoops" mascot of the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team for three years before going into advertising. After working for various small agencies in New York, he and his father started Forte. "Our company is actually very small, but the press makes us sound huge," says Manniso, whose Wildball creation has been covered by the Associated Press, ESPN, CNN, USA Today and many soccer magazines. Forte has 26 national representatives across the United States and in Canada. Wildballs are carried by Nature Company stores nationwide, and Manniso says a smaller Wildball "cub" ball is being sold in K-Mart, Wal-Mart and Toys 'R' Us. Since Forte means "power" in Italian, the company slogan is "Forte-The New Power in Sports." "Eventually," Manniso says, "I hope Wildballs become the Ben and Jerry's of soccer." -Michelle Carlstrom, Delaware '94