Old soccer boots give new life to ASRC soccer team, The Seekers

While on the way to buy new soccer boots last year, 11 year old Scarlett started thinking about what would happen to her old ones. She couldn’t hand them down to her sisters because they weren’t the right fit and there wasn’t anyone in her soccer club that needed them either. More than anything, Scarlett didn’t want to leave them to gather dust in the back of her cupboard. It was during her search for someone or somewhere that might take her boots that she discovered the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and the ASRC soccer program.

Scarlett and her sisters, Lexi aged 9 and Zoe, 7, decided to donate their old boots but thought that theirs alone wouldn’t be enough to go around. Knowing other families would be in a similar situation, with dusty soccer boots lying around under beds and in wardrobes, the girls approached their school and soccer club to see if either wanted to help. They were expecting to gather 20 to 30 boots for the ASRC, but soon enough managed to collect over 70 pairs!

With this success, the sisters launched their very own charity campaign called We Give a Boot and now have ten soccer clubs collecting equipment on their behalf. They’ve donated 141 pairs of boots, 66 soccer balls, 29 brand new sets of goalie gloves and five boxes of equipment to the ASRC since first getting in touch around a year ago.

Much of this equipment has gone to the ASRC soccer team, The Seekers. The men’s team consists of around 30 players, aged between 16 and 30 who compete in the Victorian Soccer League. Most players are members of the ASRC and currently seeking asylum and don’t have the resources to purchase expensive soccer gear.

The donation of equipment like balls, gloves and adult boots means that the team can redirect the money that would otherwise be spent on these necessities into training, paying league registration fees, buying jerseys, and trying to find a new coach and establish a permanent women’s team.

The Seekers will be playing their first game of the season on Sunday, 2 April at Selwyn Reserve, Albion.

The We Give a Boot family is attending and the girls couldn’t be more excited to see the equipment they’ve collected put to good use. I spoke to them over the phone recently. Scarlett had been away on school camp and was excited to get back to the campaign, and to talk to me about it. Her enthusiasm was infectious.

I’m so happy someone gets to use the equipment, someone who might not get to play otherwise. She says that this is the best part of We Give a Boot – ‘seeing where your boots go and the difference that you can make.’

Lexi, whose main jobs are cleaning donated equipment and sorting through boot sizes says the hardest part is when she sees boots that she really wants for herself.

But I know they’ll go to someone who needs them,’ she says over the phone, sounding oddly mature for her age. Like her older sister, Lexi is well spoken and humble. She says it makes her feel good that ‘we’re actually helping people in need, we’re doing a good deed and we’re not just doing it for ourselves.’ She stresses her last point: ‘It’s important to do things for other people.’

Youngest sister Zoe loves seeing photos of people receiving their boots and how happy they are.

‘It’s hard to imagine that soccer boots can make anyone so happy,’ she says, a hint of genuine awe in her voice. ‘I’ve really learned how important it is to give to charity. You can make people so happy with even a small thing.’

From humble beginnings, the idea’s taken off and the girls are also collecting sport equipment for other fantastic causes including the Reagan Milstein Foundation who’ll be taking the gear to kids in Africa and the South Pacific and TheirBeautifulGame who take equipment to Indigenous Australian communities and as well as Africa.

Dad Paul is blown away by the success of the campaign and incredibly proud of his daughters.

‘It happened by accident, but then, as a family, we decided to stick with it and see how it goes… I help with logistics, but the girls are the real energizing force behind this. We feel lucky that we can do this, and make a difference in people’s lives.’

If you’d like to find out more about We Give a Boot, you can find them on Facebook and Instagram @wegiveaboot.

To support the ASRC Soccer Team, The Seekers come see them play at Selwyn Reserve on Sunday, 2 April at Selwyn Reserve, Albion. Members of the public are encouraged to come along, support the team, meet the players and share in a celebratory barbeque after the game.

If you’d like to join the soccer program as a player or volunteer, please email ASRC Community Engagement & Development Program Coordinator, Kirsty at kirsty.s@asrc.org.au.