{"id":3063,"date":"2013-07-10T16:14:01","date_gmt":"2013-07-10T20:14:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=3063"},"modified":"2013-07-24T17:14:18","modified_gmt":"2013-07-24T21:14:18","slug":"stinger-boys-know-not-every-local-kid-is-as-fortunate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/stinger-boys-know-not-every-local-kid-is-as-fortunate\/","title":{"rendered":"Stinger Boys know not every local kid is as fortunate"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

In soccer communities like Aurora, kids soccer jerseys accumulate in kids\u2019 closets almost at the same rate as outgrown shoes. <\/p>\n

As parents of kids in the Stingers U9 Soccer Team noticed the growing numbers, they decided to do something about it. Connie, a Stinger parent who regularly works with Yellow Brick House, the local shelter for women and children, saw that a better use for these jerseys might be in giving them a new lease on life on the backs of these kids in need and the Stingers jumped at the chance to help their fellow boys and girls.
\n\u201cI had a chat with my son and he was thrilled,\u201d said Connie. \u201cHe couldn\u2019t pick enough jerseys to give away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added fellow Stinger parent John, \u201cSome of the families brought in more than one jersey. Some of them brought toys and really got behind the idea. I had a similar conversation with my son too about the importance of acknowledging he is fortunate to have these opportunities, but not everybody else does.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy helping out he is creating an opportunity for kids who may not otherwise have a chance to participate in some of these activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the team ramps up their involvement in the community, the U9 Stinger Boys are in the running for the Bank of Montreal\u2019s Team of the Week. The boys are looking for community support towards the prestigious program, which recognizes 15 kids\u2019 soccer teams from across the country over the summer for their efforts in branching out from the soccer pitch to where they live.<\/p>\n

After the Teams of the Week are named through the end of August, they will be in the running for the grand prize which will bring a significant investment in local soccer from the national bank.<\/p>\n

The team was nominated by Coach Vince Russo, who hailed his kids for their energy, enthusiasm, and passion for both their game and the community.
\n\u201cTheir positive attitude, love of the game, and friendships with each other can be witnessed on and off the field,\u201d said Mr. Russo in his pitch. \u201cThey practice three times a week and participate in weekly tournaments, always bringing energy, smiles and dedication.\u201d<\/p>\n

John is not only a team parent, but also the regional coordinator for the Canadian Tire Jumpstart program. Their involvement within the program has helped drive home the point that Aurora is not strictly an affluent community, but Aurora kids often have very important needs which might be holding them back from being full participants in the community. <\/p>\n

\u201cJumpstart provides the kids with an opportunity to get into sports they wouldn\u2019t otherwise have,\u201d said John. \u201cThat is part of the message we\u2019re trying to get to the boys and the families that this is an opportunity for you to help other kids your own age.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the more awareness [BMO Soccer and Jumpstart] get, the more awareness the community gets by extension of that, that there are issues related to poverty in the community.\u201d <\/p>\n

Connie agreed, adding that more and more is being done in schools to drive home this point and also make parents aware of the similar problem. She also says going online to voice your support for the Stinger Boys will give the team a good shot in the arm. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey are positive boys who have lots of energy and the coaches really push that positive energy and have fun,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy getting on the website and supporting us and telling their friends about it too, the more people talk about it, the more people are aware there is a need within our community as well as other communities,\u201d adds John. <\/p>\n

To support Aurora\u2019s U9 Stinger Boys, visit www.bmosoccer.com, click \u201cTeam of the Week\u201d and search for Aurora.<\/em><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In soccer communities like Aurora, kids soccer jerseys accumulate in kids\u2019 closets almost at the same rate as outgrown shoes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/2013-07-10-06.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-Np","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-10 15:45:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}