After six years, the partnership between Ballard High School and the Casa Maria Montessori preschool, which has been housed at the school rent free, is coming to an end. Tight […]
Month: May 2010
Garbage collection normal on Memorial Day
Seattle Public Utilities is reminding folks that garbage, recycling and yard waste collections are on a normal schedule next week, despite the Memorial Day holiday. So if Monday is your […]
Beach naturalists at local beaches for low tide
The Seattle Aquarium Beach Naturalists will be at Golden Gardens and Carkeek Park for the low tides expected this weekend. Kids exploring the tide pools during a 2009 low tide. […]
Molly Moon’s Ice Cream to hit the road
Our sister blog in Wallingford, MyWallingford.com, has let us know that after spending the weekend at the Sasquatch Music Festival at The Gorge the roaming Molly Moon’s Ice Cream truck […]
Murder/suicide in Ballard after domestic dispute
Police statement (6:30pm, 5/28): Tonight, Seattle Police released a statement saying they had previously responded to this residence twice before. No police report was written on those occasions due to […]
What does Seattle want? How about a nude beach?
Mayor Mike McGinn is asking citizens what Seattle needs. In the “Ideas for Seattle” forum, people are allowed to submit ideas or vote on ideas submitted by others. Taking the […]
District Council concerned about Route 44 changes
The Ballard District Council is raising concerns after a presentation to the group by the Seattle Department of Transportation. During the talk, Bill Bryant with SDOT highlighted proposed changes to […]
Pools & community centers have furlough day Friday
The Department of Parks and Recreation has another furlough day tomorrow (Friday May 28th) and next Tuesday. All Parks staff have Monday off for Memorial Day. Staff will be taking […]
New Ballard park selected for sustainable initiative
The new 9th Ave NW Park is one of two Seattle parks selected to participate in a nationwide sustainable landscape pilot project. A drawing of the park design unveiled at […]
Beware of aggressive crows
Each springtime crows become loud, aggressive and territorial. Deepballard writes this warning in the forum: Was walking south on 32nd, just before 62nd, when a crow dive bombed me from […]
Zoo euthanizes last ostrich in African Savanna
The Woodland Park Zoo no longer has ostriches in the African Savanna exhibit. Ozzie the ostrich, shown in forefront, courtesy Dennis Dow. This week, Ozzie the 12-year-old male ostrich was […]
Ballardite finds new use for old gear in South Africa
Before 2005 Ballard High School grad Chris Kaimmer arrived in Mtubatuba, South Africa, young soccer players in the little town in the KwaZulu-Natal province didn’t have the right gear for the game.
A Mtuba soccer player in a borrowed green jersey.
Kaimmer is a volunteer with Grassroot Soccer, a non-profit that uses soccer-based activities to teach South African kids about HIV/AIDS. He also volunteers as a coach with the U-10 team at the Mtbua Football Academy. Kaimmer, a soccer player himself, started playing here in north Seattle, played varsity for BHS and went on to play at Yale before graduating last spring.
“When I first started coaching at the academy, I noticed they really lacked even basic equipment, especially for the level of soccer these kids are playing at (true talent out here and committed coaches),” Kaimmer says. The eight and nine-year-olds he coaches wore often unwashed green jerseys lent to them on game days by the primary school. “Although this was a fantastic situation for any of the Sounders fans among the MFA U-10 squad,” Kaimmer says, “it was actually really embarrassing for the boys because the official team colors are Red, Royal and White and they were the only team in the Academy that didn’t have the right gear.”
Kaimmer contacted his soccer friends back home in Ballard and the response was overwhelming. “Gear that’s old or unwanted back home can get so many more seasons’ mileage over here,” he says. We “ended up getting a huge amount of viking ship-emblazoned Ballard Youth Soccer Club jerseys, goalie jerseys, gloves and soccer boots donated to the cause and dropped at my folks’ house. Then one of my old coaches from the BHS soccer team, Dan Shiels, did a fundraiser to raise money to ship all that stuff down here to South Africa.”
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