With 2013 coming to a close we would like to express our sincerest gratitude to all those who have supported Nick's wish this year. Although our combat troops have mostly returned from Afghanistan, we still have many troops there who are working to improve the lives of the local people. These troops need our support as much as ever to help them secure their relationships with the local population. Our heartfelt thanks also go out to all the troops and State Dept. personnel who have delivered Nick's soccer balls into the hands of needy children. We thank them for their service to our country wherever they may be stationed. Without them Nick's wish could never have become a reality and we could not enjoy the freedom and safety which we have here at home.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season and a healthy and peaceful New Year. 

We really like this letter as it does describes just what Nick had in mind in wanting to give away soccer balls to children....

Dear Kick For Nick,

On behalf of The Fresh Kicks of Ball-Air, I would like to thank you for both Nick's services to our country but also for his efforts of creating a more peaceful world. While we fully support the troops, we also agree that long term peace lies in our ability to unify the world through commonalities and acts of love. His story is heroic, his heart is unmatched. What Nick sacrificed can never be recovered, but what Nick left is inspirational. As such, a group of us are members of a team in a league where the winning team has a donation made to their charity of choice, and we saw no better inspiration than the children and Kick For Nick.

Specifically, our team was called The Fresh Kicks of Ball-Air and was made up of I8 spirited knuckleheads. We played in a kickball league (that's right, kickball) in New York City run by ZogSports-a fantastic organization that focuses on what is good about people, sports,

and teamwork. For the first time ever, our team won the league championship, and we like to think that it is more than a coincidence that Kick For Nick was our driving force. As trivial as our games may have been, we were fully aware that as adults we were playing a game made for children, yet sadly there were children that, by no choice of their own, were not able to play themselves. With that on our minds and in our hearts, we played

with more effort, enjoyment, and togetherness than any other team. Our end result was not only the championship and this donation, but hopefully a step closer to providing more children their life-given right to play a lifetime of kickball (and soccer, too).

With sincerity and gratitude,

Nick Wiater & The Fresh Kicks of Ball-Air

"The morale in my battalion as a whole has been pretty low lately so the commander decided that it might help if he gave us a couple early release days each week to go play a sport or do some sort of activity like lifting or recreational bicycling. I want to start a soccer group. We had a sports day which was a day for everyone to choose a sport to play in a small tournament. If you played in the tournament you got the rest of the day off. There was about 35-40 guys that played in the soccer tournament so I assume they'd probably be interested in getting the chance to play more often as well.

Like I said, we haven't had any practices yet but my mother was very excited to hear that I was wanting to start playing soccer again (I played all through middle school and high school) so she started looking for ways to help as much as possible. When we had the tournament most of the guys didn't have their own shin guards or cleats and nobody had goalie wear so I would think that if we can get two teams together, providing an easy way for them to join up in the "club" would help motivate them to actually do so."

-- Kick for Nick supplied our troops at this base with full uniforms, shins,  goalie gear and whatever cleats they needed.