SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Memorial Park in Logan Heights is where a youth soccer club called South Bay FC practices and plays some of their games.
“This group of kids, amazing group of kids, made up of 9 and 11-year-olds from City Heights to South Bay,” Tom Bui said. “A lot of those kids can't afford youth soccer, club team and whatnot. So, we formed this team that we pay for the uniform, we look for sponsors to pay for equipment and those things, and those kids are special to me.”
Bui is a coach for the South Bay FC team. He told ABC 10News that playing club soccer can be expensive for any family.
“It can cost up to hundreds and thousands of dollars. For an example, uniform itself is $200 to $300 right; to register to be on a team, you know, you pay a monthly fee, you pay $60 to $100 monthly,” Bui said.“For people who are living paycheck to paycheck, they can't afford 200 to $300 a month just to, just to have their kid play soccer.”
Bui said the goal of forming this team was to give kids a place to play without a big financial burden on their parents. All they have to pay is the referee fees, which Bui said are around $4 to $5 per game.
On Wednesday, he walked outside to head to work and noticed something was off.
“My car was gone. And the first initial thought was, ‘Did I get my car towed?' but I'm like, I park it there all the time, right? So then right off of that I'm like oh my god those kids' equipment's in the car,” Bui said.
Soccer gear like cleats, balls, cones, canopies and benches for the players to sit on were all in the trunk of Bui’s car.
“We have two cameras that we record during practices so that we can, you know, analyze their practice. That was in there, and that was gone too. So, roughly $1200 maybe, you know, $1500,” Bui said.
Bui told ABC 10News that he filed a police report after learning his car hadn’t been towed.
His message to whoever took the car is simple.
“Like, literally take the car, just give the equipment back for those kids, right? The kids, they deserve better,” Bui said. “If you're watching this and you see this. Honestly, I, from the bottom of my heart, just give back the stuff.”
Bui tells me he’s appreciated the community’s support during this time.
“My friends and everybody who reached out,” Bui said. “And everybody that just said, 'Hey, how can we help?' It takes a village.”
A GoFundMe has been started to support the team. You can find it by clicking here.
