By Khalida Sarwari
Two years ago, Saratoga High School student Connor Buss received the kind of news no athlete wants to hear. After suffering a concussion, his doctor told him he had to give up playing soccer for a while–and actually, all contact sports.
So Connor turned in his cleats and took up another fulfilling cause: helping others who are unable to play sports simply because they can’t afford it.
Recently, with the help of his three best friends at Saratoga High, Connor, 16, launched a nonprofit called the Gear it Up Foundation with the aim of providing sports equipment to socioeconomically deprived adolescents.
Following his injury, Connor said he was reminded of a day years ago when he played on a soccer team in San Jose and a teammate confided in him that he was facing financial hardship and wasn’t sure he could afford to be on the team anymore. Both his own and his teammate’s setbacks served as a catalyst for starting an initiative to help other youth, said Connor.
“I thought about that story and thought why not give back to the community so that others have the same privileges that I had as a kid,” said Connor. “I reached out to Albe and said, ‘Hey, I kind of have this vision.'”
Like Connor, Albe Tremblay is a junior at Saratoga High and an athlete. When he’s not at school or studying, Albe can usually be found playing basketball or coaching young children. When Connor approached him about the idea last fall, Albe jumped at the idea.
“I work with a lot of children,” Albe, 16, said. “As athletes, we all believe athletics is such a big part of our lives. You learn a lot of lessons outside the classroom and athletics give a lot of adolescents a chance to learn these lessons.”
On a personal note for Albe, another motivating force was losing his father in a motorcycle accident last summer. The tragedy made him realize “how uncontrollable life can be sometimes,” Albe said. By taking part in Gear it Up, Albe said he can try to bring some stability to the lives of families and communities that are struggling from their own hardships.
Connor and Albe, along with their friends Jacob Randall and Romteen Masoumi, are in the process of raising $10,000 and securing partnerships and grants. Their immediate goal is to help kids in their hometown and in San Jose, but they want to branch out to the other cities in the South Bay and eventually the rest of the Bay Area and the entire country. They will consider any individual, school or community that is unable to afford or maintain the equipment they need to participate in the sport of their choice, said Albe. That includes most team sports, but also individual sports such as tennis, golf, swimming and badminton.
In May, the boys will be making their first donation to an elementary school in San Jose.
“When we get that first donation out, that will be our goal, that will be our influence,” Albe said.
They’ve set up a website at gearitup.org and a Go Fund Me page at gofundme.com/s9nn94vfor anyone interested in donating, volunteering or learning more about their work.
Link: Gear It Up Foundation’s goal is to provide sports gear for youth
