The coach of a San Diego-area soccer league had to cancel games for hundreds of kids because the league's equipment was stolen last week.
“It was a gut punch," coach Keith Miller said. "My stomach went into my heart."
The roughly 250 kids who play with Coastal SD Soccer didn’t get to live out the league motto of "just play" on Friday. That's because Miller says he had to call off the games after his trailer was stolen last Monday.
“It was frustrating and sad because we were all ready to play," 8-year-old Sammy Plotnik said.
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Miller used the trailer to haul and store equipment that the 6- to 13-year-old players need, like goals, signs, balls and other necessities for their Friday night games.
“The struggle is accepting the fact that that someone is willing to do that to a bunch of kids," Miller said.
He had also transformed the trailer into a mobile store to sell soccer balls, cleats and other stuff to help supplement registration costs for the league.
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The coach says he parked the trailer on Mount Acadia Boulevard, just outside High Tech High Mesa in Clairemont Mesa, where they play their games.
This is the second time bad luck has struck. In February of this year, the sprinter van coach — also decked out with a soccer store — was totaled by a hit-and-run driver.
Stephanie Plotnik says because of Miller's selflessness and commitment to the kids that include her two sons, she started an online fundraiser to help replace the trailer.
“I'm hoping they don't have to shoulder this hit alone and they feel the community stepped up and rallied behind them, so it’s not a burden,” Stephanie Plotnik said.
Miller says he was touched by the gesture. Despite the setback, he says it should be game on this Friday
