Our own Ryan Batson and Susan Miller handed out free gear from our sponsors, and told parents about our mission.

Not only did our post-Turkey-Day kick-around draw a record number of teams to Rose City Futsal over the weekend of Nov. 26 and 27, but it also drew a generous helping of cash donations and prizes from our sponsors, bringing our grand total of funds raised to over $2,500.

We received generous checks from Indoor Billboard, Molly Starr Real Estate, New Heights Therapy, and bkl/a architecture. Many other organizations pitched in with prizes and free gear, all adding up to a great time for the kids and parents who came through the door.

From our fellow nonprofit friends at Barefoot 3×3, we received two sets of portable Bazooka goals, each worth hundreds of bucks. Another big hit were the scores of DriFit soccer shirts from our friends in the Portland Timbers organization. The Timbers lunch boxes were a hit too, snapped up in just a few hours by happy parents.

The best was handing out the Bazooka goals to our own Four Worlds youth team, who ran away with their division. The best adult team was surprised to get a set too. (They deserve it not only for winning every one of their games, but also for my personal tournament highlight: the one-footed rainbow kick one guy did over an opponent without breaking stride. Wish I had hit the video button for that one.)

All in all, ThanksKicking 2016 was a futsal love fest, one we are sure to repeat for years to come.

Jett and Skeet Starr put together the Four Worlds team and even drove the players to the tournament. Now they’ll have to figure out how to use the Bazooka goals the kids won. No problem there.

Seleccion Goleta topped the adult division, and were surprised to see us hand them a set of goals to use in their neighborhood games.