MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – With spring in full swing, the soccer community is coming together to give kids overseas the opportunity to play the sport with the proper equipment.
This is thanks to Soccer for West African Children, a non-profit organization that collects used soccer equipment for children in West Africa.
Tom Bergeront, a longtime Wisconsin football official, helped make the idea a reality.
“This is a fun project,” Bergeront said. “It's kind of a win-win for everyone.”
Bergeront said he got the idea from a colleague from Gambia who lives in Cottage Grove.
“He said to me, 'I wish we could get used equipment to Gambia and West Africa, because kids are playing with balls wrapped in twine wrapped in plastic bags,'” Bergeront said. Told. “So I said, 'Are you kidding me? “I've been a soccer official for 30 years. I know a lot of organizations and coaches.'' Every coach has a shed in the back where they keep 20 balls and old uniforms. ”
Thanks to the efforts of Bergeront and his colleagues, children are being given the opportunity to use real equipment.
“It's a really small reason because it's old equipment that people here aren't going to use,” Bergeront said.
Bergeront said much of the used equipment is obtained thanks to donations from local football programs across Wisconsin.
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