I’ll be the first to admit: I never thought much about recycling. I mean, I knew it was good to do for the environment and that it helps keep our communities clean, but that was about it. Now, the Diamond Bar Soccer League is inspired. The Recycle.Goal.contest has opened our eyes to many new possibilities.

Recycle.Goal. was a competition for soccer teams throughout Southern California to see which team could recycle the most materials by weight. We had five teams participate from our club, and our boys and girls recycled a little more than 1,100 pounds of aluminum, glass and plastic in 6 weeks. I’m very proud of my teams, but I’m even more proud that they have caught recycling fever.

Each team received a generous gift card from Sports Authority for recycling the minimum amount of materials, and we’re grateful for that, but Recycle.Goal. will continue to pay off long after we’ve used the gift cards.

Because of Recycle.Goal., my entire league has started two new recycling programs: for printer cartridges and for electronic waste. Soon, we’ll start collecting and recycling juice pouches, which are so popular with players on game days and at practices.

We have learned a great deal about the value of recycling, thanks to the program and all of the supporters: Keep California Beautiful, the American Chemistry Council, Sports Authority and the Los Angeles Galaxy.

All of the funds we collect through our new programs will go right back to where they belong—to the kids.

Again, we are grateful that Recycle.Goal. has given us so much, but it’s really only just begun. We have so much left to do and so much more to collect to keep our cities a little cleaner and our fields a little greener.

The following is a guest post by Antonio Gamboa, President of the Diamond Bar Soccer League.