Ireland goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu has donated €5,000 worth of football boots to a new Shamrock Rovers initiative.
The Hoops have launched ‘The Boot Room’, which is aimed at educating young players in valuing and looking after their boots.
The club already has a ‘Passback Programme’ in place where the men’s first-team players have passed on more than 30 pairs of boots to the club’s academy.
This new initiative will see players from the various teams within the club benefit, while the Boot Room has been built next to the dressing rooms in the club’s Academy in Roadstone.
Southampton and Ireland ace Bazunu, who progressed through Rovers’ academy before playing for the first-team at the age of 16, will speak on Tuesday at the official launch.
The club described the motivation behind The Boot Room scheme in a statement.
It read: We are all aware of the inflationary cost of living in today’s Ireland, football boots can cost players and their parents hundreds of euro in any given season.
“We are acutely aware that not all families can afford to have this as the top priority in their household budgets.
“To assist with this, the Boot Room is being launched with the central objective being to have a supply of football boots that can be made available to any of our Academy players that need them.
“All of our younger players are made aware of the value of their boots, to mind and look after them over the course of a season.”
Michelle McPhail, wife of Rovers’ director of football Stephen McPhail, came up with the idea.
She said: “As a parent involved in football, I understand the importance of players having what they need to enjoy their sport.
“Ideally, every child or young adult should have a decent pair of boots for their training and matches throughout the seasons.
“However, this can be a huge cost to parents when growing kids are going through boots very quickly.
“With this in mind, I sought to create a service within our Club where we could have a well-stocked Boot Room that could provide football boots needed by any player or coaching volunteer.”
Academy director Shane Robinson said: “This club initiative is a great addition to the academy and will ease the burden on the parents of our players.
“We want all our players to value and take care of their equipment and be comfortable in the boots they wear at all times.
“Our players look up to our senior stars and it’s great they get an opportunity to wear their boots or the boots of their peers.”
