Sports equipment drive for impoverished youth around the world

 

HEADLINES sole1A small group of Langara College soccer alumni came together in 2014 to form the charity organization, Every Single Sole (www.everysinglesole.com), which aims to collect and distribute new and used sporting equipment for youth in impoverished areas of the world, such as India, South Africa and Fiji. Every Single Sole’s drive towards its second equipment drop-off is currently underway, and later this year a primary school in South Africa will be the beneficiary of contributions from the local community in the Greater Vancouver area. The equipment drive for Silverton Primary school will begin with an event kicking-off the 2015 Women’s FIFA World Cup match between Canada and China at 12 p.m. (noon) on Saturday, June 6 at the London Public House located at 700 Main Street in Vancouver.Silverton Primary School, located in Pretoria, South Africa, has a total of 1,940 students, which mostly come from poor or working-class cities and townships like Eersterust, Mamelodi, Nellmapius and areas surrounding Silverton. According to Silverton Primary School’s principal A.D. Pieterse, “more than 98 per cent of the students are from disadvantaged areas. A lot of these children are blessed with soccer skills but are unable to afford proper sports attire or equipment.” Unfortunately, the school also doesn’t have the necessary equipment and resources to begin their soccer season. In efforts to jump start Silverton’s soccer program, Every Single Sole will be delivering donated equipment and hopefully students can follow their dreams of playing for the South African national team one day. Every Single Sole aims to deliver the donated equipment to Silverton Primary School by December 2015.Every Single Sole’s first successful equipment drive took place in the summer of 2014 during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Hundreds of items were collected from the local community including soccer boots, jerseys, balls, shin pads and socks. In the fall of 2014, these items were delivered to impoverished youth in several small villages in the Fiji Islands. This resulted in allowing over 100 kids in Fiji to be able to play the beautiful game for years to come. Every Single Sole has also partnered with other organizations in Fiji, South Africa and India that have and will continue to assist them in the distribution of equipment to local schools.

When asked what got them started on this project, one co-founder of Every Single Sole, Alvin Prasad, recounted a scene from his travels in Fiji. “My visit led me to a primary school where 200 kids were participating in a soccer tournament. One game ended and I saw two teams were waiting on the side. I quickly realized they weren’t warming up or kicking the ball around because they had to wait for the first set of kids to finish and give them their soccer boots. 22 pairs of boots were being shared amongst hundreds of kids!”

Every Single Sole is inviting the whole community to come and support this great initiative by bringing any new / used soccer equipment for these impoverished youth in South Africa, so they too can enjoy the game of soccer. As co-founder Gareth August stated, “Living in such a beautiful and developed nation like Canada, we sometimes take the opportunities given to us for granted. The thought of not having the ability to simply have a ball to play with, or have shoes on our feet don’t come to mind. The ability to buy sports equipment and have an abundance of shoes, socks and balls are a privilege that many others in the world could only dream of. Our motto is to ensure kids have smiles on their faces and shoes on their feet!”

Every Single Sole is encouraging everyone to wear your red and white in support of our Canadian women’s team. There will be prizes for those who can best demonstrate their support for Canada.

If you are unable to attend the equipment drive event, but still wish to donate equipment, contact Every Single Sole at 604-781-7654 and someone will gladly collect the equipment from you.