Fort St. John boy, 10, funds soccer dreams with bottle drives

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A local youngster has found a unique way to cover travel expenses for his sporting exploits.

Just 10 years old, Josiah Ojokojo spends his winters suiting up to play in the Fort St. John Soccer Club league, and has gone so far as to set up an ongoing bottle drive independently to fund the cost of tournaments.

His mother, Crystal Harrison, said he’s played for about four years.

“All he lives and breathes is soccer,” Harrison told Energeticcity.ca. “He goes to every practice he can. He will even try to make it when he’s sick.

“He makes me proud. He remembers to be a good person while he’s on the field, which I think is the most important. [There is] the fun of it and getting the goal. But he definitely remember[s] to help a person out if they’re down.”

But, soccer does come at a cost, as travelling for away tournaments can be expensive. As a single mom, making ends meet is a more important requirement than going to play in Edmonton.

However, Josiah, who has run a lemonade stand alongside his sister Ja’bria in the past, dipped into his entrepreneurial spirit and has asked for bottle donations to independently pay for tournament appearances.

“With fundraising, there are limits with the [soccer] association,” said Harrison. “We as parents have to fund it ourselves. It was something I couldn’t just do.

“But, he is so passionate about it. He said, ‘if I’m going to do this, I want to travel.’ I told him, ‘you’re going to have to find a way, bud,’ and he said, ‘I’ll just collect bottles and cans and I’ll find the way there.’”

He’s made bottle runs before tournaments throughout the season, including for next weekend’s FC Memorial Challenge event in Edmonton.

The four tournaments throughout the year happen in November, January, February and April.

To contribute to drives, people contact Harrison through Facebook, with Josiah and his mom picking the bottles up around Fort St. John and then heading to the FSJ Return-It bottle depot.

While she describes bottle collection as “real sticky work,” Harrison says her son has found his way to away tournaments. 

Although Harrison says she occasionally has to “cover a little bit” of the costs, each of the drives funds Josiah’s tournament fees and gas, and this past November it covered the entire trip – including the hotel and meals – with enough left over to venture to the FC Memorial Challenge starting January 22nd.

“For the most part we make what we need,” explained Harrison. “Even if that means we get groceries in the hotel and eat sandwiches.”

“Sometimes, it will be just one or two bags from somebody,” said Harrison. “Sometimes, there will be 10 bags. Then, we will put it all in clear bags and take it into FSJ Return-It. 

“Sometimes it is multiple trips. I feel like the bottle depot knows us very well. They see us come in and ask, ‘how many bags you got this time?’”

To contribute to Josiah’s bottle drives, please contact Harrison directly through her Facebook account.