‘Better use for these jerseys’: Potomac teen changes lives of youth soccer players around the world
A Potomac, Maryland, teen has sent thousands of soccer jerseys to kids in need from around the world. Now she’s being recognized for her efforts.
Sydney Mednik and her sister, Ashley, noticed the number of soccer jerseys growing in the back of their closet and thought there might be a better use for them.
“We realized we’ve had all these jerseys that we’ve had from previous years that are just untouched. They’re thrown away, put in the back of a closet somewhere. And we just thought there has to be a better use for these jerseys,” Sydney Mednik told WTOP.
In 2022, the sisters started the nonprofit Pass with Purpose. Now they hold drives with local soccer clubs to collect jerseys, shorts and socks, then fold and sort them to donate to kids in impoverished areas.
After their first drive, they sent over 1,000 uniforms to children in Zambia.
“We’ve been told that they wear them every single day, and we’ve gotten tons of videos of them thanking us for them, and they all have the happiest looks on their faces,” Sydney Mednik said. “Everyone deserves to feel that sense of connection with their teammates.”
Pass with Purpose also donated over 200 jerseys to children in the Caribbean nation of St. Martin.
Sydney Mednik said the drive they’re holding now is projected to double their previous efforts.
Thanks to her work with the nonprofit, she was just chosen as a “Stay and Play Champion” by the app GameChanger, a youth sports app for livestreaming, scheduling and scorekeeping.
Her newest mission is to encourage kids to keep playing sports, especially past the age of 11, when many kids often stop, according to GameChanger.
Sydney Mednik described the benefits she got from her years playing soccer.
“It’s caused me to be such a better person off the field, as well as on the field, and I’ve just learned so much about independence as well as teamwork and leadership skills. And it’s also really taught me how to persist through hard times.”
The rising 10th grader at Winston Churchill High School will be organizing two more events in the D.C. area for less fortunate kids. She also intends to host soccer clinics led by professional athletes.