MSF, Maryland SoccerPlex & Discovery Sports Center

As per the previous post, Captain Cunningham and his men have built a soccer field for the Iraqi children and they plan to build more! They have made goals but need the goal nets. Chaplain Englehardt contacted us asking if we could help. We sent out some e-mails and Trish Heffelfinger, Executive Director of MSF Maryland Soccer Plex & Discovery Sports Center, was kind enough to answer our plea requesting donations of used soccer nets to send to Iraq!

On Thursday we picked up 9 nets from Joseph Pietanza, III, Facility Manager at MD SoccerPlex! (See photo below for Joe with the donated nets). These will be packed up and sent to Iraq this week.

Many thanks to the Maryland Soccer Foundation, Maryland Soccer Plex and especially to Trish Heffelfinger for fulfilling this request and making this generous donation! We would also like to thank the staff for packing up the nets and loading them into the vehicle for us. The Iraqi children will truly appreciate these nets! And our soldiers will be grateful for your support of their project!

Message of Thanks

From one of the soldiers to whom we've sent soccer balls:

"Thanks so much for your email and for being willing to help us. Those soccer balls seem insignificant when you think about them, but, here in this country, where everyday life is hard, even for the kids, it's an amazing gift that they absolutely love. There's no telling how long of an impact small gestures like that have on children, many whose parents are openly hostile to American forces. It's something that, years down the line, the kids will hopefully remember about American Soldiers, and that might just make a huge difference. Kids love "football" here, and I can't tell you how many ask us for soccer balls wherever we stop. They are in high demand, and it makes my Soldiers feel good to give back in small ways. We are an engineer company, and have some construction equipment and operators, and have had the opportunity to level out one soccer field so far, and plan for several more in the near future. If you have a group willing to donate nets, we would certainly appreciate 3-4 pairs to use on those fields we have and plan to construct. Our mechanics have welded up several soccer goals, and we have seen how much the people here appreciate gifts like that.

Thanks so much for the help, we really appreciate it!

Captain John Cunningham"

Notes from our Troops!!!!!!

Here are two recent notes we received from our troops who distribute your donations. They give us all incentive to continue with this worthy project!

The first was received after a shipment of Soccer balls to Chaplain Simmons in Afghanistan!



And this letter is from Chaplain Bartels who is stationed in Iraq:


Many thanks to Chaplain Simmons & Chaplain Bartels and to all of our troops. We appreciate all you do everyday to serve our country and the extra time you put in to help the Iraqi children as well.

Olmstead Falls Boys Soccer Team, Olmstead Ohio

The Olmstead Falls Boys Soccer Team, from Olmstead Ohio, and Head Soccer Coach James Walchanowicz have made a very generous donation to Eric's Goal!

Their contribution of 61 jerseys and 37 pair of shorts will be sent to Iraq in care of Chaplain Englehardt, for distribution to the Iraqi children.

Coach Walchanowicz is also helping us to locate soccer nets to donate to the Iraqi children. Chaplain Englehardt's commander has requested nets for goals they are making for a soccer field for the Iraqi people. We will keep you posted on the progress in this area. Any photos received will be posted as well.

Thank you Olmstead Falls Boys Soccer Team and Coach Walchanowicz! We are proud to have so many fine young Americans join us in this project to help the Iraqi children and bolster Iraqi and American relationships!

List of donations

We've listed the people who have made donations for Eric's Goal here but we also wanted to give an update on exactly what has been donated. There will be a permanent link to this list under Links on the left side of the page.

We did not achieve 5,000 balls by the end of 2006 but we continue to collect soccer balls and other equipment to send to Iraqi children through our troops in the field. Here is the very impressive list of donated equipment:

Soccer balls: 3,567
Pumps 96
Pairs of indoor shoes or cleats: 211
Shin guards: 163
Team vests: 70
Cones: 57
Net bags: 24
Cloth bags: 15
Goalie Gloves: 32
Socks: 408
Jerseys: 789
Jackets: 9
Shorts: 905
Pants: 13
T-shirts: 296
Corner flags: 1
Electric pumps: 1
Trophies: 4
Kids soccer kit: 1
Athletic supports: 1
Medals: 63
Compression sleeve: 1
Donations: $8,216.24 (used to pay postage and purchase equipment)

Thanks for all of the generosity!

Last updated: 2/15/08

Berkeley Jets Soccer Team

Tim Wagner and fellow Berkeley Jets (Berkeley, CA) team mates have made contributions to Eric's Goal several times now! In 2007 they collected monetary donations which were used to purchase and ship soccer balls to our soldiers in Iraq. In late 2007 Tim collected uniforms for the Iraqi children and they were sent just last week.

Thank you Berkeley Jets, and especially Tim Wagner for your continued support! It is great to see donations coming from generous people across America, from coast to coast!

Weiser High School Auto Club Donation!!

We received a donation all the way from Idaho! The "knucklebusters" of the Weiser High School Auto Club got together with the help of their advisor, Don Schultz to collect soccer balls for the Iraqi children. They sent us 15 soccer balls, 2 jerseys, 1 ball pump, 3 basketballs & 1 playground ball!

Thank you knucklebusters! Your donations have been sent to American military personel for distribution to the Iraqi children!