‘Trojan Sports Locker’ Serves Underprivileged Families with Athletes

As a former high school athlete, Rolly Parrott, owner of Professional Pest Control, Atlantic, Iowa, knows the joys of sports and he values the important lessons he’s learned while competing. As a single father, he also understands the financial sacrifice it requires from parents.

“I coached my son Korey’s (now age 17) Little League team for seven years and I noticed that a lot of the kids didn’t have proper cleats or gloves,” Parrott recalled. “We had kids whose parents didn’t live together, or who had large families and they didn’t have the money to go to [sporting goods stores]. Plus, kids outgrow their equipment quickly.”

So, in 2014 Parrott launched The Trojan Sports Locker, a venue in which families donate used sports gear, and families in need pick up the equipment free of cost. The program began when Parrott launched a Facebook page, www.facebook.com/groups/377786362378005/, and began distributing sports gear from his home (the Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department has since provided him a building for the Trojan Sports Locker).

“It’s helped get kids involved in sports and it’s given parents an opportunity to get their kids involved in sports,” Parrott said. “A lot of sports start up in the fall when parents are already spending money on clothes and school supplies, so this takes one financial burden off them.”

Parrott said he’s seen donations come full circle. “I remember kids being really happy to get a new Nike shirt or Under Armour cleats, and then a year or two later they return and are happy to donate some of their used equipment.”

Parrott recently took inventory and said the Trojan Sports Locker now has more than 300 pairs of shoes (baseball, softball, football, track, soccer and basketball) as well as clothing, equipment and even bubble gum.

A service professional for another pest control company the last five-plus years, Parrott launched his pest control business, Professional Pest Control, this past February. He provides residential and commercial services throughout Southwest Iowa and is kept busy with spiders, bed bugs, crickets, fleas, bats and rodents. “I want to do a really good job eliminating people’s pest problems and showing customers that I am concerned about them and their pest problems. When I get a service request, I look to jump on it right away, and get the job done.”