What do you get when CPOs, privacy researchers and current and former privacy regulators find a swath of grass on a sunny day in Jerusalem? On Sunday, on the grounds of Hebrew University, fans got a friendly football match.

In truth, players outnumbered fans at this second annual IAPP Global Football Friendly event, where privacy’s most gifted promising spirited athletes took to the field, sporting blue and black shirts sponsored by Intel.

While this was a no-experience-necessary game—all were welcome to take part—it became clear early on that privacy pros are proficient in more than just data matters. Early action from the blue team resulted in the game’s first goal within minutes. But black would soon roar back, and after three great saves under intense pressure, blue keeper Scott Shipman, CIPP, failed to prevent a fourth attempt by blue to get the ball in. Score: 1-1.

Peter Kosmala, CIPP, took one down the line to feed ILITA’s Azmi Tannous, who got it around the effective footwork of the blue team’s David Hoffman, CIPP, to feed the sure-footed Brian Huseman, CIPP. Huseman rushed on goal to score another one for the black team, giving them the lead at 2-1 and causing those on the sidelines to wonder if CIPPs have an edge on the soccer field, too.

Blue ball. Black keeper Allen Brandt stands at the ready, but his services are not needed. Pamela Jones Harbour shows her effectiveness on defense, blocking a shot on goal and nailing the ball to midfield where the black team’s offense took over, putting another ball in the blue team’s net. Score: 3-1, black. Brian Tretick, CIPP, tried to capitalize on a subsequent blue team turnover, but no teammates were downfield to receive a pass, and his own shot was blocked by Greg, spouse of team photographer Peggy Eisenhauer, CIPP, who went on to launch it  back to his blue teammates at midfield. Trevor Hughes, CIPP, picked it up and scored for blue. Score 3-2, black.

Then it was Tretick, again, scoring to give the black team a 4-2 lead. But the not-to-be-doused blue team fired back with a Hughes-to-Hoffman assist, bringing the score to 4-3.

Blue applied pressure, dominating on offense and sending another ball screaming toward the net where Brandt’s sticky hands found it, putting the ball back in black hands. On defense for blue, Lorrie Faith Cranor dribbled the ball around Jules Polonesky, CIPP, to get it to teammate Hoffman, who ripped off another shot that Polonetsky blocked, then sent downfield, where Shipman clasped it, saving another for blue.

The teams entered halftime at 4-3 with black in the lead, and black scored again soon into the second half, increasing its lead to 5-3. But Herb from San Jose turned the worm for the blue team. With adept ball handling and an assist-goal-goal triad, he helped bring the score to 6-5. Then, fast-as-lightening Shipman, now out of goal and deep into black territory, sent one over the heads of blue defenders Jones Harbour and Kosmala to find its way to Hoffman, who put it away for blue. Score 7-5, blue.

Cranor showed her ball-handling skills on defense, sending it around Tannous to Hughes, who passed to Hoffman, who set up to shoot but was scuffled by Tretick. Tretick passed to Tannous, who took it down the field to shoot, only to see his ball graze the top of the net. Blue ball again. A Shipman-to-Hoffman assist brought the score to 9-5, blue.

Then, a match highlight. Tannous, now in goal for the black team, saved a shearing shot by Huseman, then left the net to run it all the way into blue territory, winding, slalom-style, past four blue defenders and moving in to score, but his shot was deflected by the black team’s new keeper, Herb.

Cranor’s growling defense was not enough to deter Polonetsky, who launched it down to Tretick, who passed to Huseman, who put it in the net for black, closing the lead gap to 9-6.

Opinions vary greatly on the everyone’s-a-winner philosophy that seems to prevail in pockets of today’s society, with some saying it perpetuates the myth that everyone is equal and others insisting it devalues the important life experiences of successes and failures. That being the case, the nice or not-so-nice thing about friendly football is that when the score goes too far in one team’s favor, the playing field gets leveled. Therefore, in the final minutes of the match, the score was reset to 0-0—a blank slate for a sudden-death finish. 

But before that final point would come, the play of the game, a duo of defensive moves—an elegant  head-bump/hip-bump combo by Jones Harbour—deflected two consecutive shots by the blue team and put the ball back in black’s control. Scouts, take note. Polonetsky set up Tretick, who stumbled against the defenses of Blair Stewart, then fell into a series of graceful somersaults. Stewart moved the ball to center, where Tannous overtook it and put it in the net to end the game, 1-0, black.

But really, everyone won. The shedding of sportcoats, wristwatches and other business travelers’ accoutrement, the exercise and sunshine and the fellowship and good humor proved to be a cure for jet lag and a great way to start Privacy Week in Jerusalem.

The IAPP and global privacy pros are in Jerusalem, Israel, this week for two special events—the OECD’s “The Evolving Role of the Individual in Privacy Protection: 30 Years after the OECD Privacy Guidelines” and the 32^nd Annual Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners, “Privacy: Generations Conference.”