During a recent teacher-student softball game at Cedarcreek Elementary School, teacher Samantha Ford, a physical education teacher throughout the district, noticed a problem.

There was an equipment shortage.

“So we didn’t have enough gloves to play,” she said, “we barely had enough to share between the two teams.”

Ford, as she’s done in the past, decided to do something to help.

Related story: Saugus Union PE Teacher Leads Shoe Drive For Kids In Need

Ford, a lifelong player who helped UCLA softball win national championships when she was in college — and has even thrown out the first pitch at Dodger Stadium — had a network of athlete friends to draw on for donations.

The importance of having the proper equipment, and enough of it, can’t be understated, said Ford, who also noted some of her students are being exposed to the sport of the first time.

The equipment situation doesn’t only affect the enjoyment of the game, it also impacts her students’ abilities to meet their goals, personal and educational.

“There are standards, there are goals they need to meet,” Ford said. “So if they don’t have the proper equipment, it’s hard for them to reach those goals.”

She’s had support from several of her former UCLA teammates, who have helped by pitching in several gloves, but the need is there, and Ford realized that new or gently used gloves might be harder to come by than shoes, which she held a drive for during the previous school year. That effort drew support from some of the Santa Clarita Valley’s more famous athletes, including some who were alumni at the schools in which Ford was teaching.

Related story: MLB Player, Cedarcreek Alumni Support Shoe Drive

However, with gloves, many might be reluctant to give them away because of the memories many have with them, Ford speculated.

“People are attached to their gloves so it’s been a little difficult,” she said. “I’m encouraging used ones, a couple of people have bought new ones, which are not super high end and that’s good.”

Older, used gloves are actually preferred, Ford said, because they’re easier to use with the foam softballs that elementary schools use for player safety.

The glove sizes for the used gloves are sizes 11 inches and up, she said, noting it’s for her older students in the district, in the fifth and sixth grades.

The gloves for the students can be dropped off at 27792 Camp Plenty Road (the address for Cedarcreek Elementary) in care of Samantha Ford.

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