LODI, Calif. — After playing against Rio Vista High School, Golden Sierra High School's boys and girls soccer teams stopped for dinner before heading home Thursday night. When they returned back to the bus, they found that all of the team backpacks, uniforms and several personal items were stolen.
Athletic Director Keith Bush estimates that the school equipment that was on the bus alone cost roughly $2,500. He said that he does not have an estimate for the personal items that were stolen from each student.
One of the Golden Sierra teachers, Robin Jones, created a GoFundMe page to raise $2,000 to help the students at the school. Jones noted that some of the students that had their possessions stolen were in foster care or came from families that could not afford to replace their personal items, like graphing calculators and cell phones. Even the students' homework was stolen.
Within seven hours, Jones had raised $1,715.
In terms of the season, Trenton Mol, coach of both boys and girls teams, said they are trying to pull everything together.
Despite having to cancel their game scheduled for Friday, Mol said he is hoping they can pull together uniforms, cleats and shin guards to make it through the rest of the season. The girls' team, still undefeated, is on pace to compete in the post season.
Mol said that throughout the ordeal, he was proud of how the teams handled it all.
"The sheriffs said that they were the nicest group of young adults they have come across in a very long time," Mol said.
Mol said that he told the team to stay calm and that then the girls' team captain gave a mini pep talk.
"She said, 'This is just a little obstacle' and 'We got to push through,'" Mol said.
Both teams have one game next week before the championships begin for their league.
"The girls are still very excited about being league champions," Mol said.
Mol said that they are actively working with law enforcement and are still hopeful that they will be able to recover their items.
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