The football shoes often don't fit well, and they can hinder the way a youngster performs in practice and even on the playing field.
So the donation Thursday of 50 pairs of cleats by the nonprofit Samaritan's Feet meant the world to young athletes.
"People don't come to high school sometimes because they get bullied for wearing crummy shoes," said Jason Nieves, who plays on the offensive and defensive lines for the football team. "So this is just great."
Samaritan's Feet is a nonprofit relief organization, whose goal is to shoe the feet of 10 million impoverished people in 10 years. There will be a World Walk to support the nonprofit in San Bernardino on Oct. 25.
The red, white and black cleats ended up at the high school in large part because a basketball coach in Indiana chose to take action.
In January 2008, Ron Hunter, head coach of the Indiana Univerity-Purdue University Indianapolis basketball team, coached a game in his bare feet to raise awareness of the plight of impoverished children around the world.
The media coverage of the event inspired Lynn Wheeler, who is responsible for equipment for all Georgetown University athletics, to arrange for the donation of hundreds of shoes to Samaritan's Feet in Washington, D.C.
The organization then gave the shoes to the Ballou High School football team in D.C.The coach there subsequently coached shoeless to further the message, and media coverage caught the attention of Phil Galipo of PJ's Sports, who contacted Samaritan's Feet and offered to donate football cleats.
The cleats he donated found their way to Alton Green, Samaritan's Feet West Coast regional coordinator.
Green knew of the need at San Bernardino High School by way of Regal Watson, who volunteers for Samaritan's Feet and is also an intervention counselor at the high school.
On Thursday, those cleats that traveled all those miles arrived at the high school gym.
While the cleats brought smiles to the young players' faces, several former professional football players who work with Legends by Lang, a nonprofit sports educational organization, offered words of wisdom.
Mark Seay, a former member of the San Diego Chargers who grew up in San Bernardino, talked about walking the same path the young players walk now.
"I came to San Bernardino from Compton, the inner city, and I was able to overcome peer pressure because I had a dream," he said.
San Bernardino High Coach Dominic Monica, who does much on his own to better the young athletes' lives, said the first-time event at the high school was truly amazing.
"Having the players tell their stories and the donation of shoes means a lot to needy kids," he said. "Now their parents can go out and get groceries instead of worrying about buying an extra pair of shoes."
deborah.pfeiffer@inlandnewspapers.com
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