Zack Dabby was sixteen, one of the most frightening ages for someone who had never had the responsibility of organizing more than a bake sale. Dabby, a rising senior at Freehold High School and volunteer for Challenger Sports, spent eight months and more than 100 of his own hours turning Every Kick Counts, an inclusive FootGolf fundraiser, into a program that will begin its second year as part of New Jersey Youth Soccer later this month. Dabby and other volunteers will once again host the event at Bel-Aire Golf Course in Wall Township on August 7, with even bigger stakes than most high schoolers could imagine considering the $10,000 raised during its first year plus the interest from three other eastern states that have since inquired about launching similar programs in their areas.
The origin story for Dabby’s efforts began long before the first hole was dug at Bel-Aire with one teen named Jack Constantino and his family. Dabby volunteered for Challenger Sports, an organization that partners children and teens with disabilities with volunteer buddies to participate in weekly sporting events. There, he met six-year-old Jack Costantino, a young boy with autism from Howell who is now a big part of Dabby’s life. The two used to be opponents during weekly sporting activities until they struck up a real friendship neither of their parents expected.
Today, Jack and Zack regularly text and ride bikes with one another. The two even spend holidays at one another’s homes where their parents get to know one another. Dabby has said that the experience has brought their families together, more than just two boys becoming friends. Watching the impact it had on Jack motivated him to ask himself if other teens with disabilities and their buddies across New Jersey could get similar benefits if they had a real opportunity to meet outside of sports. That question was the seed for Every Kick Counts, but to turn it into a reality Dabby had to learn a number of new skills along the way.
“I had no idea how to do any of it at first,” Dabby noted with a laugh. “It was all pretty scary to me,” he said, recalling the process of branding the event, seeking out corporate sponsorships, working through a working budget for a functioning event, and building the website where sign-ups and donations still take place today. While a lot of the details were difficult, Dabby has been inspired to continue working on Every Kick Counts since his initial idea because it felt good to challenge himself while working on something bigger than himself. Even professionals from U.S. FootGolf and U.S. Youth Soccer were there to lend a hand when it came to branding and promotional materials, while New Jersey Youth Soccer staff handled the technical aspects of the website for sign-ups and donations, the reality was that every bit of this effort was Dabby’s idea and hard work.
When it came to fundraising, Dabby could not lean on his lack of experience as an excuse. When speaking to potential sponsors, he had to do something far more intimidating than study spreadsheets and budgets in high school math class: he had to get out and talk to real people and ask them for donations. “When I first talked to Ray Catena Auto Group about a possible sponsorship it was incredibly intimidating knowing I didn’t have a ton of connections in the business world to lean on,” he said. Ray Catena Auto Group, a luxury car dealership in the Tri-State area representing brands like Lexus, Audi, and Mercedes Benz, ended up being one of the largest regional sponsors of Every Kick Counts and has continued its support for the event as it enters its second year. Dabby has said that when it came to first-time sponsors, he was a teen with an interesting idea and nothing to lose, so he made sure to lean into his youth and energy as a selling point during those conversations.
That determination paid off for Every Kick Counts, as the program saw continued support from RWJBarnabas Health as the title sponsor for a second year in a row. Additional generous sponsors include the New York Red Bulls, SCORE Sports, WeDo, and Toyota, with support from the Vin Gopal Civic Association, the NYNJ World Cup Host Committee, U.S. Youth Soccer, MLS GO, Gotham FC, Wegmans, PRIME, Central Jersey Pools, and Print2Go. With that kind of support, Dabby is expecting to raise closer to $20,000 this year compared to the $10,000 raised during the first iteration of the event, a significant boost that will go towards NJYS TOPSoccer, the adaptive soccer program for players with intellectual and physical disabilities that serves nearly 1,000 athletes across the state.
Every Kick Counts always leaned into its commitment to being more accessible than traditional sports leagues, but that ethos extended to the event itself that launched the program back in August 2021. Dabby specifically picked FootGolf, a sport that blends elements of soccer and golf and is played on a golf course featuring nine holes. He saw it as the perfect introduction to the sport for beginners while still being fun for more advanced players: the sport’s flexibility allowed everyone to play the game their way. More than fifty players, families, and volunteers turned out to for the inaugural Every Kick Counts event, including former U.S. Men’s National Team captain Tab Ramos who played alongside the children, families, and volunteers who signed up to participate. Tab Ramos agreed to serve as an ambassador for Every Kick Counts moving forward, while Jonathan Yee, the chairman of TOPSoccer New Jersey Youth Soccer, had the chance to play as a course buddy to dozens of athletes who participated in the event and share in the same spirit of inclusivity as the game was meant to capture. Jonathan Yee has said that the game was all about the opportunity for everyone to get the ball in the hole, regardless of what their score ended up being.
While Dabby has spoken about the long hours he dedicated to the cause and his relief at being able to stop working on it for a while after August, the highlight of his eight-month journey was being able to see the opportunity to play FootGolf unfold for everyone who showed up. “I got a real kick out of this one,” he said. “Being able to have everyone try it out, but then also having some fun with my friend Jack on the course was really something special.” In turn, Jack had a great time and was especially happy to be able to kick the ball as far as he could, while Jack’s mother called the event an amazing experience and noted the value of her son and Zack’s friendship.
Every Kick Counts has since caught the attention of youth soccer organizations in Massachusetts, Virginia, and Connecticut, who have since reached out to ask about the chance to hold a similar event in their state. While Dabby was certainly surprised by the amount of attention outside of New Jersey, he also knows that the next step is to dedicate himself to making sure the program’s first year is a success on his home turf. That dedication has also meant seeing one of his friends from the inaugural Every Kick Counts event step up to the plate to fill a more formal leadership position for the 2022 season. Several of Dabby’s friends from the first event have since taken on more responsibilities, including fundraising, recruitment, and maintaining the group’s website. Dabby spoke about the value of learning to let others take on responsibility, saying that delegating tasks was a valuable lesson for him as a leader. It allowed the event to grow beyond what any one individual could manage on their own, but still have the impact he intended for it to have.
His father, Evan Dabby, CEO of New Jersey Youth Soccer, has provided some guidance to Zack through the process but has acknowledged Every Kick Counts was his son’s idea and effort from the beginning. “People tend to forget how much work goes into something when they only see the end result,” he said when talking about the opportunity to watch his son work through this process. “I think it was especially meaningful for Zack to really see what it took to turn this idea into what it is today, rather than just jump to the other side of the finish line.”
As Every Kick Counts prepares to return this August, right around the World Cup, Zack Dabby is hoping to see the opportunity this sport provides extend far beyond one weekend. “I want families to be able to enjoy a FootGolf experience they will remember and return to year after year,” he said while talking about his hopes for the future. Asked about his feelings on the program, Dabby focuses less on the fundraising and more on the opportunities it provides. “I want to provide opportunities for everyone who shows up to have the best experience possible at the course.”
