A few months after students at Errington Elementary School (ESS) were left staring at an empty field where their soccer goal once stood, a Sidney-based company has stepped in to make things right.
Professional Components, the manufacturer behind Scoremaster soccer goals, donated a brand-new goal to the school on Friday, replacing the one stolen from the field in early June.
The theft, which left students without one of their most-used pieces of equipment, struck a chord with Professional Components president David Smith.
Within hours of hearing of the theft, he approved the construction of a replacement goal and arranged to have it delivered.
“When we heard about what happened, it landed directly on our desk,” said company marketing specialist Dave MacLeod. “It made quite an impact on us here. (David) immediately said, ‘We’ve got to do something to help the school.’”
The donation was completed on Oct. 3, when representatives from Professional Components visited the school for a handover ceremony.
For MacLeod, seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces brought home the importance of what had started as a simple act of goodwill.
“We were struck by the passion of the kids at Errington to get out during every available opportunity to play soccer,” he said. “It’s a real part of their school culture. To see how much that goal meant to them, it made the decision to donate a new one even more rewarding.”
For the rural school outside Parksville, the donation carries more weight than just replacing lost equipment.
MacLeod said the team at Professional Components was moved by how the theft had affected the school, which often faces challenges in securing extra funding for new resources.
“Errington is a country school,” he said. “They sometimes feel out of sight, out of mind, and the theft really put them under financial pressure because they didn’t have the means to replace the goal. To be able to step in and take that burden off them, it felt like the right thing to do.”
The visit also served as a reminder of the broader community spirit that exists across Vancouver Island, said MacLeod.
“It sent a united message that incidents like this have no place here,” he said. “Even though the person responsible hasn’t been found, it showed that when something like this happens, Islanders stand together and do what’s right.”
As for the students, they’ve already put the new goal to use.
During the handover, one youngster was chosen to take the first shot and missed, MacLeod laughed, but it was a joyful occasion nonetheless.
“He turned out to be unsuccessful with his shot, but that didn’t matter,” MacLeod said. “The important thing was seeing them back out there, playing again.”
