MOSCOW - The Idaho men's and women's basketball coaching staffs will coach in their bare feet on Jan. 5, 2012 in a home doubleheader. The notion is in an effort to raise money and provide shoes to children in impoverished countries who suffer from foot-borne diseases and infection due to a lack of shoes. The women's game against Seattle University tips off at 5:30 p.m. and the men's Western Athletic Conference opener against Nevada begins at 8 p.m.
"Obviously if we can help somebody else out that's not as fortunate as we are in the United States, if we're able to get some kids a pair of shoes, that's great," Idaho men's coach Don Verlin said. "One thing we do is we take for granted what we have here in the United States, and obviously there are people in other parts of the world who aren't as fortunate."
Women's coach Jon Newlee and Verlin will join thousands of coaches across the country by going barefoot to help raise funding to put 1,000,000 pairs of shoes on the feet of children through Samaritan's Feet this year. Idaho's goal on Jan. 5 is to raise 1,000 dollars, which will provide shoes for 100 children.
"It is a great cause," Newlee said. "I've been to some very poor countries in my life and I've seen kids without shoes and I've seen people walking around that need shoes, and it's sad to think they don't have an opportunity to even have shoes. We are so blessed here in the United States with everything we have, especially in athletics, when it comes to shoes and certain things like that."
During both games, announcements will be made encouraging fans to donate by texting the word "shoes" to 85944 to give a one-time 10 dollar gift and an impoverished child a new pair of athletic shoes and socks. Fans will also have the option to give cash donations during both games.
"By doing this Coach Newlee and Coach Verlin are making a statement to help provide a voice for the 300 million children world-wide who wake up each morning without a pair of shoes to put on their feet," said Manny Ohonme, who founded Samaritan's Feet in 2003. "These coaches involvement along with their peers who have also taken to the court barefoot bring a new level of awareness to our ongoing mission to reach the world's neediest children with the gift of shoes."
In November of 2007, Samaritan's Feet asked IUPUI coach Ron Hunter to take off his shoes and socks to raise 40,000 pairs of shoes and draw awareness to the world-wide issue of 300 million children without shoes. Coach Hunter said yes and in less than six weeks he and Samaritan's feet raised over 140,000 pairs of shoes and over 30,000 dollars.
Thousands of other coaches around the country are using their platform as coaches to help Samaritan's Feet reach the goal of distributing 10 million pairs of shoes to 10 million people in 10 years.
"I have a six year old who if I thought was running around and couldn't even have shoes, it would break my heart," Newlee said. "I thought about Bailey when this came up and I felt like if there was anything we can do to help these kids then we'll do it. Certainly coaching barefoot is just one little way to help these kids out. We're excited as a staff to do it and to give these kids a chance to run around with something on their feet."
The focus of the program is on children from Africa, South America, the Caribbean and the United States.
As a 9-year-old child in Nigeria, Ohonme received his first pair of shoes from a missionary, and with that pair of shoes he began playing basketball and other sports. Ohonme earned a spot on a travelling basketball team and eventually his high school team. After graduating from high school, he was offered a scholarship to play basketball at the University of North Dakota (Lake Region), where he earned his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees.
