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Madison Area Youth Soccer Association

Donate Soccer Equipment at OHS Game on May 17

By ERIC ANDERSON, 05/11/18, 9:00AM CDT

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Do you have any extra soccer cleats taking up space on a shelf or an unused soccer jersey hanging in a closet or sitting in a dresser?

If so, bring it to the Oregon High School girls soccer game against Milton on Thursday, May 17 at Huntoon Field. In exchange for your donation of a soccer item, you'll receive free admission to the match, which kicks off at 6 p.m. (note updated time)

The items collected will be given to Eddie Ogodogu, an Oregon resident who organizes a youth soccer tournament in his native Nigeria each year. This year, he was able to give at least one piece of soccer equipment to each of the 170 players who played in the tournament. The top three teams in the tournament receive cash tokens, which the kids can use to buy school supplies.

Ogodogu, the assistant varsity coach for the Sugar River boys soccer team, worked with high school and middle school students in Belleville and New Glarus to gather supplies for the inaugural tournament. He's hoping to expand the program and accept more players and teams next year, so he reached out to OHS girls varsity coach Julie Grutzner to see if the Oregon community could help, too.

"The whole thing grew really fast, with kids anticipating the start of the next tournament," Ogodogu wrote in an email. "When I started, the goal was just to give kids cleats because they don't have them. But I feel that it is a good means of bringing unity within a community that has been torn by religious differences."

Ogodogu is creating a website and Facebook page for the program. Until then, if you have questions about it, contact him at orishejol@gmail.com. And make plans to be at Huntoon Field on May 17 with some soccer equipment to donate!