Hundreds of Rush Pikes Peak Soccer Club youth players and families came out to Discovery Park last Saturday to participate in Make Your Own Ball Day.

Make Your Own Ball Day (MYOBD) is the brain child of Indiana-based Mark Spiegel and uses the process of making and playing with a homemade soccer ball to create, connect, appreciate, give, and play. MYOBD promotes and supports the passions of kids for sport and uses soccer as a platform for change.

Players brought homemade soccer balls made from non-traditional materials or made soccer balls from items such as yarn, duct tape, and newspapers at the beginning of the event.

Players, parents, and staff from MYOBD and Rush Pikes Peak then played small-sided games with the homemade soccer balls, enjoying the spirit and camaraderie that comes from free play.

"It was so awesome to see kids as young as three all the way up to moms and dads jumping in and playing with the homemade balls," said Matt Stelmaszek, Rush Pikes Peak's Director Coaching - Developmental. "Something as simple as a ball can connect people within our club just by playing today and, through the donations we collected, connect our club with people around the world."

Rush Pikes Peak member families donated soccer balls that the MYOBD staff will distribute in Tijuana, Mexico at the conclusion of a five stop road trip through the United States. Donations at each MYOBD event ensure that children throughout the world will have greater access to traditional soccer gear, improving their playing experiences and participation in the game.

Stelmaszek looks forward to continuing the event in future years and seeing it grow each year. He said, "We hope to host a Make Your Own Ball Day every year and expand the event to include Colorado Rush. It was great having the MYOBD crew out to Colorado and the organization's mission fits perfectly with Rush's core values of unity, enjoyment, empathy, and passion."