Hi Rebecca,
I'm sorry for your frustration. But let's see if we can get you over that hurdle.
I might need some more information to assist you but it sounds like you have linked in the ball rig and just haven't created a library override to make the armature available to animate.
Try pressing F3, typing "override" and then choosing the option that says 'make'. (It should be the top one)
If you're still having issues I might need some more information, like screen shots, or recording etc.
Let me know how you go.