In the last week before our soccer finals, our tiny country team was dealt a massive blow. There had been a spate of thefts across the shire from sports clubs. From what we’ve heard, thieves were breaking in overnight and pinching soccer goal nets. Sports netting can be expensive and clearly, someone didn’t want to pay for it.
Though it had been raised with the local council that we should invest in CCTV to protect the courts from vandalism, we’d never been funded, and had no way to find out who had our soccer netting. Beyond this, there was no way to tell how to get them back in time for the finals.
If we wanted a chance in the finals, we needed to find a way to get soccer goal nets for the field. Rural finals were taking place everywhere, and with every court engaged, the only way to win was to find a replacement.
When we first found out, the general consensus was that it was just too late- we’d have to cancel, forfeit and let the other team take the cup.We had put a call out on social media for help.
We talked to the local radio station about how the soccer nets had been relatively new, and in great condition, but that we needed a replacements as long as they were usable. For three whole days and with only 72 hours left until the finals, nobody seemed to have a solution.
It’s not like anyone had any sports nets that they could simply give away. We were the underdogs in a game that we already looked like we would lose. The team were all but convinced that the cup wouldn’t belong to us this year- but just as everyone was about to give up hope, we received a call from a local sports retailer who supplied nets to the city. Thankfully they had been tagged in our post online about the sports netting being stolen and an anonymous donation had been made to replace our nets, brand new and free of charge. It now up to us to win the day and come home victorious.