By Yoni Ginsberg

The US Soccer Foundation runs several programs to help promote youth involvement and, through its Passback program, it helps underprivileged teams from around the world attain gear. The Passback program was started in 2002 and has since amassed over 670,000 pieces of soccer equipment. In 2009 alone, Passback garnered a whopping 129,000 items. With these donations, they are able to help underserved kids to play the beautiful game.

Kids at a Passback event in Chicago – joined by USSF spokesperson Logan Pause

A notable member of the Passback program is New York teenager, Jackie Sullivan. The young woman has been named 2009’s collector of the year after she collected almost 4,000 items on her own. Jackie admits that many people helped her in her effort.“For some reason, people just started sending me stuff and collecting stuff this year,” she said. “I had a lot of help … Besides my amazing family – especially my brother Michael – everyone at East Meadow Soccer Club has done so much.” The pieces are shipped to players across the US, and abroad to places Africa, South America, and Haiti.

Jackie has collected 9,000 pieces of gear since she began at the age of nine. “It’s so cool to have such a big effect on people!” she said. “And to have adults volunteer to help me – Wow.” Anyone who wishes to get involved in the Passback program can, and any and all help is appreciated. For more information visit Passback.org.

Tags: One Love Soccer, ONELOVE FC, Passback, US Soccer Foundation

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 at 11:56 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.