In 2007, four Highland Park High School students Jackson Coon, Christopher Hipps, Thomas Gibbons and Caleb Robinson came up with an idea of a collection drive of used sports equipment. They started Replay Sports — Pass it. Catch it. Share it.

All four boys had played a variety of sports and realized that they had a lot of outgrown sports equipment sitting in their garages. Most Park Cities families typically have their children participate in a wide variety of sports as they grow up. Many of these sports require equipment (football, lacrosse, hockey, baseball, soccer) that is used for one or two seasons and then abandoned as the child grows or narrows the focus of their sporting activities.

As an example, in one garage, there are four football helmets, three sets of shoulder pads, one hockey helmet, four lacrosse sticks and seven baseball bats. None of which have been touched in three years. This collecting of equipment in one garage is similar to many other garages, attics and storage rooms. Instead of collecting dust throughout the district, this equipment can be put to use by young athletes that might not have access to the equipment for a variety of reasons. Perhaps being able to participate in a sports program will provide the opportunity to succeed in other aspects of their lives.

Those four students have since graduated from Highland Park, but current Highland Park High School students carry on their vision of helping others.

This year’s officers are Lee Cooper, Will Vanderstraaten, Clayton Murtha, Price Peters, Tyler Brock, Jon Skidmore, Kyle Burnett and Thomas Glieber.

This year’s collection dates are:

• August 18: 8 a.m. to noon at Highland Park High School’s Highlander Stadium.
• August 25: 8 a.m. to noon at Highland Park Middle School.

For more information visit www.replaysports.org

(This story was submitted by DeEtte Peters.)