Holliston Leedlelers Started New Tradition
The Holliston Leedlelers not only won its division in the Boston Area Youth Soccer League (BAYS), the team also started a new tradition. The U-11 boys launched a food drive at the beginning of the spring season to benefit the Holliston Food Pantry. The “Larger Game” food drive collected canned and other non-perishable items at every home game.
Last week, the team presented the pantry with more than ten bags of groceries. “There’s power in having a team,” says coach Jim Morelli. “And I wanted to harness that power by doing something good for our community. This was a good way for the boys to understand that there is the game we play each Saturday, and then there is the Larger Game out there – the needs in our community unmet. For them to see we CAN have an impact is an important life lesson.”
The Leedlelers are: Zack Andrew, Zack Armes, Ty Bergstrom, Justin Cole, Trevor Fleischman, Will Howes, RJ Hunt, Michael Liberty, Jack Littlejohn, Kells McAuliffe, Will Morelli, Matthew Perera and Danny Stokes. George Andrew and Mark Liberty also help coach the team. Morelli reports that the Holliston Youth Soccer Association is looking to expand the “Larger Game” program to other teams beginning in the fall. “I mean, look at what this one team was able to do. Imagine two teams, three teams… six teams all collecting for the pantry,” Morelli says. “We could have an amazingly huge impact.”
