Tuff Dogs Sports Club has continued a proud tradition by donating 130 pairs of football boots to deserving children.

Brothers Manny and Danny Faria, from Tuff Dogs, raised funds by holding two golf events in one day, the One Love Classic tournament and the Tatem Memorial.

“The Tatem Memorial first started in 2000,” Manny Faria said.

“We held the first one after Maria Tatem, the wife of our softball coach, and our biggest fan passed. It was originally the Maria Tatem Memorial but her husband Donald and son Jimmy, who also played for us, passed on and it became the Tatem Memorial.

“When we started we used to donate to a lot of different charities but for the last six or seven years, we have been trying to donate to young athletes and focus more on individuals than large charities.

“This is the second time we have donated boots. The first time we had donated to the Devonshire Cougars youth programme.

“This year we had committed to present two clubs with a total of 20 $100 gift certificates to The Pro Shop to help young players to buy boots.

“We were since approached by a Tuff Dog member and former player who very generously donated 100 pairs of boots. The demand was still high so we agreed to purchase an additional ten pairs. We are very happy to now be able to donate 130 boots to these young boys and girls. We are tremendously grateful for the support of our donor.”

Both golf tournaments were full to capacity with 20 teams each and some young golfers will also benefit from the fund-raising efforts

“The One Love Memorial is in honour of Brian Morris and we are donating $5,000 to junior golf,” Faria said.

“Since Covid there are a lot of people struggling to get ahead and sometimes sport takes a back seat as it’s not as essential as other things. We want to make sure that young athletes don’t miss out because they can’t afford to participate.”