Passback Helps the Maurer Family Truly Make a Difference

Don Maurer is a proud parent of three young (and quickly growing!) soccer players, Joey (age 10), Christine (age 9), and Jake (age 7), all of whom play for the Temecula Valley Soccer Association (TVSA). Needless to say, the Maurer family has gone through its share of soccer equipment over the years. One afternoon this fall, Don was sorting through the dozens of pieces of outgrown soccer equipment that had built up in his house and immediately thought about the less fortunate.

“I was reluctant to just throw the items away. An idea came to me about somehow collecting gently used/new soccer equipment and redistributing to less fortunate kids and to organizations that can distribute it. I ran the idea by my wife and she thought it was a good idea,” said Maurer. 

After presenting the idea to the TVSA Board of Directors, Don developed a program within TVSA known as Temecula Outgrown Game Attire (TOGA). After getting word out in Temecula’s local newspaper and on the TVSA website, as well as distributing over 500 flyers within the local community, TOGA held three collections during the 2008 spring season and collected an astounding 930 pieces of equipment! 

Maurer poses with two of his children next to their TOGA collection bins.

Even though TOGA wouldn’t be where it is today – let alone exist! - without Maurer’s time and dedication, he credits the success of the Program to those around him.   

“We have a great group of parents who are on TOGA’s committee and a dedicated group of individuals who drop-off/pick up the containers on donation days. Also, the surrounding community in Temecula has been great to work with…The highlight of my time collecting has been the overwhelming positive response from the local shops, friends, parents and community overall. Everyone I have come into contact with has been very supportive.”

Some of the hundreds of pieces of equipment that TOGA collected.

However, after collecting so much equipment, Don struggled to find local organizations that could use it all – until he discovered the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s Passback Program. Passback was able to identify several local organizations in need and ultimately helped Don distribute everything he collected to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Garden Grove. Now, as a result of the collaboration between TOGA and Passback, hundreds of local children are running around in “new” gear.

Aside from a slight mishap when Don was attempting to paint his collection bins bright red and ended up painting his garage floor instead (!), his experience with TOGA has been all he could have asked for and more. He is already making plans for his next collection – and Passback is already searching for the next lucky recipient of what will no doubt be hundreds of pieces of equipment that he collects.

For more information on the Passback Program, including how you can benefit from TOGA and Don Maurer’s collections, please contact Courtney Fischer, Passback Program Manager at cfischer@ussoccerfoundation.org.