The Greater Wyoming Valley YMCA received an anonymous donation that allowed them to donate 3,000 pairs of soccer cleats to youth soccer leagues around the area. The cleats were houses in a storefront in the East End Center in Wilkes-Barre Township. From left: Shane Farrell, president of the Plains Soccer Association; Nicole Kovalski, Property & Leasing Manager, Joe Amato Properties; Jamie Dudick, Greater Wyoming Valley YMCA.
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Youth soccer stars will kick off season with new kicks thanks to Greater Wyoming Valley YMCA
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Nick Griffin, vice president of the Hanover Youth Soccer Association, starts moving his league’s shipment of donated cleats out to his van. The Greater Wyoming Valley YMCA received an anonymous donation that allowed them to donate 3,000 pairs of soccer cleats to youth soccer leagues around the area.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
YMCA Executive Assistant Jamie Dudick assisted officials from each league with loading the cleats into their vehicles. The cleats were houses in a storefront in the East End Center in Wilkes-Barre Township.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE TWP. — One of the surest signs of the changing of the seasons from summer to fall: the beginning of youth soccer leagues all over the area.
Thanks to the efforts of the Greater Wyoming Valley YMCA, young soccer stars from leagues across the valley will be fitted with brand-new soccer cleats to take the field this season.
Officials and volunteers with 10 different youth soccer programs from Moosic to Mountain Top stopped by 150 East End Center on Saturday afternoon, where YMCA Executive Assistant Jamie Dudick was waiting with 3,000 pairs of donated soccer cleats for the officials to distribute among children in their leagues.
“The leagues will be able to ensure that their kids have the shoes that they need,” Dudick said. “We received the cleats as an anonymous donation, and we’ve contacted all the leagues to let them know we’re here today.”
Dudick explained how, with sporting equipment costs running higher and higher with each passing year, it’s not always easy for parents to get their children all of the equipment that they need.
With the help of Joe Amato Properties, the company that owns the East End Center shopping plaza, the YMCA was able to secure an open storefront to store the cleats before they were picked up and taken back to each league.
“We received a lot of community support, and Joe Amato Properties was willing to lend us the space,” Dudick said. “It’s the perfect amount of space, and there’s plenty of parking and room to load up the cleats.”
The pickup time was from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon, with a steady stream of trucks and vans pulling up outside the storefront to load up the boxes of cleats.
“These are definitely going to go to good use,” said Nick Griffin, the vice president of the Hanover Youth Soccer Association. “We have kids that grow out of their cleats midseason and need a new pair.”
Griffin estimated that he had about 100 sign-ups for Hanover this year, with the season officially kicking off action last weekend.
While he was a one-man loading crew for Hanover, the Plains Soccer Association had numbers on their side when it came to moving those shoes: league president Shane Farrell brought his wife Kellie and their two daughters, Kenzie and Piper, to help out.
The two younger Farrells were so efficient getting their father’s truck loaded up that, when an official from the Mountain Top Youth Soccer Association stopped by, they helped him too.
Youth soccer leagues from Greater Pittston, Back Mountain, Triboro (which covers the Moosic area), South Wilkes-Barre, Nanticoke, Forty Fort and Bear Creek also received a shipment of donated cleats for their players.
In addition to the 3,000 cleats on hand at the East End Center on Saturday, the Scranton YMCA also received 200 pairs of cleats, with an additional 150 pairs each going to the Carbondale and Wayne County YMCAs.