This archive report was first published on 9 August 2019.
On August 7, 2019, Kenya's U19 Women Lacrosse team made headlines for all the wrong reasons at the World Championship in Peterborough, Ontario.
The team, representing Kenya at the tournament, was noticed by their opponents, Israel, to be playing without the proper cleats (protrusions on the sole of a shoe) required for the game.
Kenya lost the match 13-4 to Israel, but the next day, the Kenyans showed their support for the Israeli team, who later donated brand new pairs of cleats to the Kenyan team.
Lacrosse is a relatively unknown game in Kenya, but the team's surprise on social media sparked a global reaction.
“Yesterday we played @Israel_Lacrosse and had no cleats …: after supporting their game today, Israel surprised the whole Team on the sideline with brand new cleats!!” they tweeted.
ESPN picked up the tweet and retweeted it, sparking a wave of comments that praised the gift of giving and the true spirit of sportsmanship.
