Students donating sporting goods

Rummaging through his garage one day last school year with his mom, 15-year-old Newport Beach resident Connor Morrill was confronted with a heaping pile of old sports equipment from his athletic childhood filled with soccer and lacrosse.

There were several pairs of cleats and uniforms, all too small for Connor, now a sophomore at Corona del Mar High School.

“We thought ‘maybe we can donate this stuff to someone,’” Connor said.

The idea led Connor and his friend Alex Murray, 15, also a sophomore at Corona del Mar, to start the Just for Kicks Club last year at their school. The club collects gently used sports equipment to donate to needy children.

The teens started out collecting soccer cleats, but people also started donating jerseys, basketballs, football cleats and baseball hats, even a few tricycles and hula hoops.

“It started kind of slow, with just a few boxes,” Alex said. “We really didn’t know what to do or how to get the word out.”

The teens passed out fliers at neighborhood soccer fields, met with local coaches, and held a collection drive at school with the help of their faculty advisor, Corona del Mar English teacher Daniel Patterson.

Eventually, Connor and Alex had amassed 550 pieces of donated sports equipment to give to Lighthouse Ministries at Mariners Church in Irvine.

This school year, Connor and Alex have an even bigger goal.

The two friends hope to collect 1,500 pieces of sports equipment to send to needy children in Africa.

“They’ve done very well,” Patterson said. “I told them I would help them shape their goals, but they’ve done all of the work. I’ve very proud of them.”

Last month, the two friends traveled with Lighthouse Ministries to distribute some of the sports equipment they have collected to children in the village of Rojo Gomez, just outside Tijuana.

Children in the village lined up to receive pairs of cleats, soccer balls, socks and shorts.

“It was really different; everything is so different when you cross the border,” Alex said. “[In Rojo Gomez] they only have running water at the school and only a few houses have electricity.”

Connor and Alex played soccer and basketball with the children after handing out the donated sports equipment.

“They all had big smiles on their faces,” Connor said. “It was fun to see how happy they were.”

How To Help

The Just for Kicks Club at Corona del Mar High School is collecting gently used sports equipment to send to needy children in Africa.

Sophomores Connor Morrill and Alex Murray hope to collect 1,500 pieces of equipment this school year.

For more information on how to donate, visit www.justforkicksclub.com.

Equipment can be dropped off at

Corona del Mar High School

2101 Eastbluff Drive Room 214

(949) 515-6000

or

Newport Soccer

3400 Irvine Ave No. 103

(949) 476-2244