Fairfield Prep Senior Gives Used Sports Gear a Second Life

FAIRFIELD, CT — For Fairfield Prep senior Camino Ressi, sports have always been an important part of his life, from years of playing hockey to taking up wrestling in high school and completing challenging long-distance cycling trips with his father. Sports have taught Camino perseverance, confidence and the value of pushing himself outside his comfort zone.

They also led him to recognize something he had largely taken for granted: having access to the equipment needed to participate.

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After years of playing hockey, a sport that requires skates, pads, helmets, sticks and other costly equipment, Camino was struck by the contrast when he began wrestling. To get started, he needed little more than a pair of used wrestling shoes passed along by a friend and a singlet.

That experience got Camino thinking about young people who might want to try a sport but never get the opportunity because their families cannot afford the necessary equipment.

Determined to help, Camino created GearBridge, a community initiative that collects gently used sports equipment and helps get it back into use. Over the past year, he has collected more than 117 pieces of sports equipment with an estimated replacement value of more than $6,500, including hockey, baseball, softball, soccer and other sporting gear.

Camino began the effort more than a year ago, asking families in his Fairfield neighborhood to donate sports equipment their children had outgrown or no longer used. He collected donations at his neighborhood's annual Labor Day gathering last year and later expanded the effort by partnering with the Wakeman Boys & Girls Club in Southport, which serves as a community collection location for GearBridge.

Camino also built GearBridge.org, including an online catalog where families can browse individual pieces of donated sports equipment and request gear at no cost. By cataloging the equipment he collects, Camino hopes to create a bridge between families with sports gear sitting unused in garages and basements and young athletes who can put it back into action.

"When I used to play hockey, a $300 stick could break within a few months, and that was on top of all the upfront costs of playing," Camino said. "After switching to wrestling, where I barely needed any equipment, I realized I wanted to help kids who couldn't afford new sports equipment every season. That's why I started GearBridge."

Throughout the project, Camino has collected, sorted, photographed and organized donations while working to find the best ways to get the equipment back into use.

A portion of the donated equipment will also benefit Leveling the Playing Field, a nonprofit organization that collects new and gently used sports equipment and redistributes it to schools, youth programs and other organizations serving young people who face barriers to participating in sports. Other equipment will remain available through GearBridge for families to request directly, while Camino continues to explore additional ways to put donated gear back into use.

For Camino, the project brings together his own experiences as an athlete with his desire to give other young people the opportunity to discover what sports can offer.

Having participated in equipment-intensive sports like hockey as well as wrestling, which requires relatively little gear to get started, Camino has seen firsthand how dramatically the cost of participation can vary from one sport to another.

Through GearBridge, he hopes to give more young people the chance to experience the friendships, confidence and life lessons that can come from participating in sports, regardless of whether their families can afford all the equipment needed to get started.

To learn more about GearBridge or browse the donated equipment currently available, visit GearBridge.org or the GearBridge online catalog.