In an effort to give back to the game that has given all of us so much, the Klein Collins men’s soccer program holds an annual Passback Night each season.

At a designated home game, the Tigers collect new and gently used soccer equipment as part of the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s Passback Program. Klein Collins then donates the equipment to a deserving organization. In three years, the Tigers have collected over 1,000 items. In 2007, over 275 items were given to the Houston Scarborough High School soccer program to distrubite among its feeder schools - Clifton Middle School, Wainwright Elementary, K. Smith Elementary, and Benbrook Elementary. In 2008, the items were donated to the Bridges Community Friends, Inc and its youth soccer program. In 2009, over 500 items were collected and given to Northside Christian Church to take to Nairobi, Kenya on a mission trip. The items were distributed at the Fair Oak School in the Quarry Slums of Nairobi.

"The kids went crazy ... and so did the teachers at the Fair Oak School!" said Northside senior pastor David Garrison. "This school has almost 250 students and is right in the middle of the Quarry Slums of Nairobi. The children who attend the school are in extreme poverty. The meal they have at school may be their only meal for the day. Please pass along our tremendous thanks to all those who donated equipment, gear and clothing. They can be assured that it will be put to great use!"

“The great thing about the Passback Program is that just about any kind of soccer equipment can be donated and reused,” said Hamlett. “We have had everything from cleats and shin guards to old uniforms and socks to cones and balls donated. It all goes to complete the goal of the Passback Program which is to ‘share the equipment, share the game.’”

 For more information on the Passback Program, please visit their website at www.passback.org.  

Pictures from Kenya

The 2009 beneficiaries of the KCHS Passback Night was the Fair Oak School in Nairobi, Kenya. Members of Northside Christian Church took the equipment with them to distribute on their mission trip in June, 2009.

Northside Christian Church's Senior Pastor David Garrison holds up one of the Passback items at the Fair Oak School in Nairobi, Kenya.