\u00a0A youth football organization in California’s high desert is scrambling to replace thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment after thieves broke into a storage container and stole gear just weeks before the start of the season.<\/p>\n
Members of the Hesperia Sting, a nonprofit youth football and cheer program, discovered the break-in this week at a storage container located behind Hesperia High School, where the organization keeps equipment used by players ages 5 to 14.<\/p>\n
The theft has left coaches, parents and players uncertain about whether the upcoming season can begin as planned.<\/p>\n
“They really took stuff out of here,” said Cynthia Moreno, president of the Hesperia Sting. “We went from hardly having any equipment, or equipment donated to us from Barstow. We were finally able to buy our own and get our kids new things, and now it’s been taken.”<\/p>\n
According to organizers, dozens of helmets, shoulder pads and training equipment were stolen. Much of the gear had been purchased through years of fundraising efforts and community support.<\/p>\n
“We did multiple fundraisers and car washes and sold chocolates,” Moreno said.<\/p>\n
For many families, the program provides more than just a chance to play football.<\/p>\n
“It keeps them out of trouble and gives them something to do and gets them ready if they want to play football or cheer in high school,” Moreno said.<\/p>\n
Parents say the organization has become a close-knit community.<\/p>\n
“We have built a community because we are here every day after school practice, two hours a day,” said Gina Chaves, whose child participates in the program.<\/p>\n
The loss has been especially difficult for young athletes looking forward to the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Twelve-year-old Anthony Tarr said he was shocked to learn that most of the team’s equipment had been stolen.<\/p>\n
“It was pretty bad because it was most of our equipment,” Tarr said.<\/p>\n
Tarr, who dreams of one day becoming a professional football player, described playing the sport as an unforgettable experience.<\/p>\n
“It’s unreal. It’s an out-of-body experience,” he said.<\/p>\n
With practices scheduled to begin in just a few weeks, parents and organizers are rushing to organize new fundraising efforts. They estimate the stolen equipment is worth about $5,000.<\/p>\n
Without replacement gear, organizers say it will be difficult to safely field teams this season.<\/p>\n
The Hesperia Sting has filed a police report, and authorities said the theft remains under investigation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0A youth football organization in California’s high desert is scrambling to replace thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337201,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[22012,48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":["post-337200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-hesperia","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}