Venture is brainchild of Greenfield native Charlie Joyce

GREENFIELD — Both of Charlie Joyce’s sons play soccer. His oldest, Logan, is 12 and plays for USF Real Soccer Club’s U12 Boys Black team. The sign-up fee for the current spring season is $350, which includes two training sessions a week and one tournament. Next fall, the sign-up fee will climb to $455.

For two soccer seasons, Joyce will have to pay over $800 — excluding cleats, a ball, uniforms and travel expenses.

Before the start of this spring soccer season, McCleery’s Sporting Goods donated 75 pairs of last season’s stock of soccer shoes to the Greenfield Area Soccer Club, where Joyce is a board member and a recreational coach.

According to Joyce, the Club went through nearly all of the donated shoes, which in turn gave him an idea: What if he could alleviate the cost of not only his sons playing soccer, but any child participating a youth sport? That thought process spawned Sport It Again Equipment.

Joyce’s brainchild presents area families with the opportunity to recycle their children’s used sports gear. The intent is to assist local families that are struggling with the lack of affordability that comes along with kids participating in sports.

“It’s expensive just to sign a kid up for a sport nowadays, let alone buy the equipment they need,” explained the Greenfield native. “Everybody should be able to play a sport, whether they can afford it or not.”

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