The PFA has partnered with the Green Football Weekend to help bring The Great Save Down Under. Through campaign partner KitAid Australia, the PFA hopes to reduce kit waste and increase football accessibility for communities in Australia, the Indo-Pacific and Africa. Find out more about the initiative and how footballers can help contribute to the Great Save.
Image: KitAid Australia
Throughout March and April, the PFA is encouraging players from A-Leagues clubs to donate their unused kit, boots, and gloves to KitAid Australia, as part of a global campaign called The Great Save.
Donation boxes have been set up at each A-Leagues club’s training ground, with players able to donate their gear – from the previous season, their previous clubs, or even their junior career.
By donating unused and pre-loved football kits, Australian footballers can support underprivileged communities across Australia and the Indo-Pacific, while also addressing the environmental impact of discarded sportswear.
Once players have dropped off their gear at donation boxes, the PFA’s campaign partner KitAid Australia will commence the major effort of redistributing the collected gear from each club to communities in need.
According to KitAid Australia’s David Walker, who runs KitAid Australia’s distribution from Toowoomba in Queensland, the organisation has numerous ongoing requests for kit, from jerseys, to shorts, boots and socks from all over Australia and remote islands across the Indo-Pacific – and even communities in Africa.
“Logistics often determine what we can deliver, but our mission remains clear: to find a way to get football kits from places like Toowoomba to those who need them most.”
In Australia, Walker has been approached by Cook Shire Council to supply football kits for children aged 7-11.
“The kids participating in local programs do not have kit, so we are after jerseys, shorts, shin pads, used boots and trainers, as well as bibs. We need around 150 sets, and 100 footballs,” Walker tells pfa.net.au
The PFA will donate 10 of the required balls courtesy of Claudia Jenkins, who recently won the PFA Player of the Month, through PFA partner Park SCC.
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KitAid is also aiming to provide 150 pairs of boots and trainers to Indigenous communities located in Bamaga, located around 40km from the northern tip of Cape York in far north Queensland. The boots will be provided to players who often play barefoot, which will reduce avoidable injuries.
Beyond Australia’s borders, KitAid Australia is a community partner of the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation (MISF). To date, KitAid has provided over 3,000 shirts, 1,000 pairs of shorts and 600 pairs of boots to MISF, among other essential football equipment, to aid the development of football in the region.
Additional kits are required as the sport continues to grow on the Islands, based in the central Pacific Ocean.
“The kit that is required for [MISF] is around an additional 600 sets of shirts, shorts, socks, boots and trainers for all age groups,” Walker said.
“By assisting MISF we are helping to bring the beautiful game to a part of the world where it hasn’t been played until now.”
A further 200 jerseys and boots are required by players who currently lack proper equipment through the Tonga Football Association, while the furthest request for gear has come from Africa: Guruve North Province, a village in Zimbabwe, and also the Republic of Malawi, in southeastern Africa.
An initial donation of six boxes of kit and second hand boots provided by New South Wales team Revesby Rovers FC and Toowoomba local side Garden City Raiders FC have made its way to Guruve North Province.
But Walker hopes to fulfil an additional request for eight boxes of kit that will be for age groups aged five to adult, including shirts, shorts, socks and boots and trainers, approximately 350 sets of shorts and shirts and 100 pairs of boots and 100 pairs of trainers.
In Malawi, Walker hopes that KitAid Australia can equip a primary school with 200 sets of football gear for children aged 4-11.
“The donations from players and clubs in the A-League will be incredibly helpful, and will be sent to places around Australia, the Indo-Pacific and even Africa where they will have real impact for each recipient. They will help more kids play football here and around the world.”
How Footballers Can Get Involved
- Club and Player Donations: Players are encouraged to donate unused or previously worn kits that are still in good condition. Each A-League club will have a donation box in their club throughout April.
- Learn more about the PFA’s climate conscious group, Our Greener Pitch
- Read about The Great Save, and other climate initiatives, through Our Greener Pitch Handbook
About KitAid
Since 1998, KitAid UK has donated over one million kits (that’s 1,000,000 kits!) to aspiring footballers across 55 countries. This initiative not only provides essential gear to those in need but also significantly reduces the environmental impact of discarded kits ending up in landfills.
