Got cleats?

If, like most modern American families, your house has become a dumping ground for discarded and outgrown soccer gear, here’s a chance to give it new life beyond the thrift store.

Local seventh-grader Kenzie Galloway has launched a cleat drive for kids in Africa who can’t afford to buy soccer cleats of their own. “My goal is to support the families who are less fortunate, but no less capable of playing the game they love,” Kenzie wrote in an email.

Donated cleats will go to a small village called Mwanza, just below Lake Victoria in Tanzania. “There are many orphans and widows there who do not have money to buy cleats or shin guards so they just play barefoot,” Kenzie wrote. “I want to encourage them to play safe and stay healthy while wearing proper footwear.”

She is looking for used equipment of any size or brand including cleats, shin guards, socks, DYSA apparel or anything Durango or soccer related. A collection bin will be set up through this Fri., May 5, at the Escalante fields during DYSA practice after school. There will also be a bin at next weekend’s Durango Shootout, with venues across the city, including Smith Fields, FLC, Escalante and the Fairgrounds.

Kenzie says her ultimate vision is to eventually to set up a “cleat closet” through the schools where “kids can come in and check out what they need, and learn skills by managing it.”