In 2005, Nick Madaras, a US soldier serving in Iraq and former youth soccer player, was home on leave. Spurred on by stories of the power of soccer ending a 30-year conflict in the Ivory Coast, Nick collected as many soccer balls as he could before returning to Iraq. Upon his arrival, he and his fellow troops began distributing the soccer balls to the children in the area. The gratitude of the children and their parents was overwhelming. The kids played soccer and the US troops and Iraqi adults joined in. Nick and his fellow soldiers realized they were on to something. This was a simple but highly effective way to help build bridges between the soldiers and the Iraqi people. Not long after, Nick was killed in action. In 2006, “Kick for Nick” was started in Nick’s memory. “Kick for Nick” is a non-profit dedicated to distributing soccer balls to children in areas around the world devastated by war. So far, the organization has donated more than 30,000 soccer balls from 47 states.
This holiday season, Molly Wicker, a sophomore at Quaker Valley High School, has brought together Kick for Nick with the local soccer organizations, Ohio River Valley FC and FC Pittsburgh, in an effort to collect the most soccer balls in a single effort that Kick for Nick has ever seen.
Starting December 12th, “Kick for Nick” collection boxes will be placed in schools and indoor soccer facilities in the area. Families are encouraged to comb their garages and closets to find soccer balls they would care to donate. Any soccer ball will do. The collection boxes will remain in place through January 27th. On Friday, February 3rd, 2012 there will be a celebratory 3v3 soccer benefit to celebrate the completion of the collection campaign. There will be food, music, 3v3 matches and a few surprises. They will also announce the total number of soccer balls collected and money collected for the “Kick for Nick” organization.