Playing soccer barefoot isn’t something many Canadian youth are used to doing, but that’s exactly what members of Halifax County United did during one of their practices this week.
“We’re all not wearing socks or cleats for for this practice to reenact how people in Kenya would feel,” 13-year-old Millie Bhaskara, a player on the U14 squad said.
Soccer is known in Kenya as football. It’s as popular to Kenyans as hockey is to Canadians.
But for the millions of Kenyan youth who play the game, the majority of them can’t afford to do so in cleats.
It’s a reality that one Halifax man was informed of during a business lunch with the Deputy Director of Sport from Kenya.
“I met with the deputy director of sport from Turkana County when he came over to Nova Scotia from Kenya. I asked him what he hoped for and he said, ‘I hope to get used soccer cleats for the kids,’ and I was kind of shocked,” Cleats 4 Kenya founder Peter Bragg said.
Bragg had no idea the majority of Kenyan youth played barefoot.
He was so moved by the Director’s humble ask that he decided to organize a cleat drive called ‘Cleats 4 Kenya.’
From now until the end of June, used cleats can be dropped off at any Atlantic Superstore location in the province.
The response Bragg’s gotten from people so far has been overwhelmingly positive.
“I tell them the back story and the reaction I usually get is, ‘I think I have cleats! Can I bring them to you?’ And I have to remind them, please drop them off at Superstore I can’t keep all these cleats at my house,” Bragg said.
Playing without cleats is a reality the U14 players couldn’t imagine doing everyday.
“We’re really privileged to have cleats and socks and for the people who don’t have them, it’s not really fair,” Bhaskara said.
For more information on the Cleats 4 Kenya charity you can visit their Facebook page.