Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Nothing would make Laurie happier than finally getting her garage back after nearly a year serving as the storage site for all types of donated American football related gear to be shipped overseas to needy teams.
This is how it all started back
in August of 2021
What you see is just a fraction of what five different high schools donated to our cause of what they believed was surplus equipment but for financially strapped clubs overseas was viewed as pure gold.
The program works simply as the needy clubs get all of the gear they receive for free. They only need to reimburse us for the cost of the shipping boxes, packing tape and shipping costs via the U.S. Postal Service, Polonez Shipping Company, UPS or FedEx, whichever is cheapest.
Today, we sent our final box to a club in Mexico that contained 54 game pants in various colors and two shoulder pads. The average cost of each item in the box was a mere $2.32 USD apiece, quite a savings for the Apodaca Nuevo León Ducks to say the least.
These pants that we shipped today
were a tad large for Jacob
The finally tally of our program's efforts over these past 11 months looks like this:
24 TEAMS in 13 COUNTRIES
RECEIVED GEAR
Brazil
Brazilian Federation to disperse to teams
Colombia
Cali Dragons
France
Lannion Grizzlys
Guatemala
Xela Cabros
Israel
Ramat Hasharon Hammers
Italy
Cagliari Crusaders
Caserta Steel Bucks
Catania Elephants
Napoli Brigante
Siena Lupi
Lithuania
Klaipėda Corunians
Mexico
Apodaca Nuevo León Ducks
Poland
Sieradz Warriors
Tychi Falcons
Zabki Dukes
Romania
Bucharest Titans
Giurgiu Gladiators
Spain
Ávila Grizzlies
Guadalajara Stings
Ibi Industriales
Tenerife Helldogs
Sweden
Göteborg Marvels
United Kingdom
Cambridge University Pythons
Cornwall One for All
GEAR DONATED
30 used Helmets
42 used Shoulder Pads
896 used Jerseys
647 used Pants
123 new NFL Game Socks
3 used Face Masks
3 new Mouth Pieces
1 new Agility Ladder
All in all, it was a lot of work gathering the gear from the high schools, sorting it out before storing the equipment in our garage, finding teams in need, boxing the desired gear up and then finding the cheapest way to ship it to the 13 countries and 24 teams that were to be recipients.
The shipping of the large boxes was usually done via the United States Postal System but at times we had to get creative due to the USPS either not shipping boxes to certain countries like Colombia, Guatemala and Israel or charging a lot more to ship the exact same box from country to country.
In cases of the Colombian, Guatemalan and also the Mexican teams, we found friends of their programs who lived in Georgia, Florida and Texas who were willing to receive our boxes at a low cost to the team via United Parcel Service and then would transport the gear with them on an upcoming trip back to those countries.
On my trip to Brazil last March to coach the LBs during the Brasil Onças National Team Camp, I traveled with a checked bag packed full of pants that were turned over to the Brazilian Federations President to allot to youth teams in need.
Since Israel is quite squeamish about large packages coming through any shipping companies, I made contact with the Rabbi at our local Jewish Temple who had a family that was going to Israel on vacation and they generously delivered a the wanted clothing for us for free.
In some cases in Italy, we were able to send boxes to men stationed overseas at U.S. Naval bases for the teams which saved them about 40% of the mailing costs as these bases are considered national, not international, mailing addresses by the USPS.
Finally, we discovered the Polonez Parcel Service which has an office in nearby Oxnard. They were willing to truck our boxes cross-country to a port in New Jersey and then load them up on a slow moving freighter across the Atlantic Ocean, a process that would take about two to three months for boxes to arrive to our clubs in Lithuania, Poland and Romania. The tradeoff for the lengthy time required on these shippings was a price that was again about 40% of what any other shipping company or the USPS could offer.
A big THANK YOU, of course, must go out to the coaches at Agoura H.S., Buena H.S., Camarillo H.S., St. Francis H.S. and Westlake H.S. for their generous donations that are helping to grow the game on the international level.
Finally, I can't say enough for Laurie's patience during this entire process that has turned her into one of the world's best when it comes to securing a shipping box with duct tape.
THANK YOU LAURIE!
Camarillo Stingers
2022 Hell Week Day 2
Our grandson Jacob was none the worse for wear after his first day of Hell Week and seemed excited about tonight's possibilities.
Jacob's team gathering
just before the storm
This was the start of two hours of fun and excitement that was largely made up of moving from one agility/conditioning station to another every ten minutes.
Jacob about to punish a coach
holding a blocking shield
After the step-over bags
Jacob will attempt to demolish
this coach again
Close your eyes, this hit is not for the faint of heart.
A stickler for neatness in his
drills, Jacob again puts the
BIG HIT on a coach
with Jacob on the left
The ball went West young man
A rep of the Seat Roll Drill
in its entirety
Jacob showing off his
exceptional speed in this drill
at our home after practice
He says he is all in on this although I'm not sure that he fully understands the concepts.
Still, it is fun to see the look in his eyes with that sparkle of youth on a new, challenging adventure that he seems to be embracing in his first American football experience.
On to EuroBall . . .
travel to Istanbul to play
the 0-6 Rams on Saturday
Championships will be held in Vantaa,
Finland start one July 30th
Our good friend Frank Hilgers' daughter Sara is a member of Team Sweden.
Sara will be #95 on the roster playing on the Defensive Line just like her Dad did for us on the 2010 Hässleholm Hurricanes.
Reading Is FUNdamental!
author Andrea Camilleri's Inspector
Montalbano Mystery series that I've
read over the years
All of these books are set in Sicily with a fun Sicilian view of life, justice, culture and cuisine that I enjoy. This tale did not disappoint me in the least.
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