Slatington Elementary students will now be able to set, shoot, and score when they go out for recess.

They can kick soccer balls into a new soccer net that was donated to the school by a local business.

Royal Roofing & Renovations LLC of Walnutport, arrived on the premises of the school’s playground Thursday morning to deliver and assemble the equipment.

The business, owned by Patrick Schoch and Isaac Levi, generously donated the soccer net and other equipment to the school for student use at recess.

Schoch said his son, Augustus, a fourth-grade student at the school, is extremely passionate about the sport.

“My son’s crazy about soccer and was saying they didn’t have a net,” Schoch said. “We decided to order some stuff so they can practice and have at their recess.”

In addition to the full-size soccer net, Schoch said he and Levi also donated nine soccer balls (3 3’s, 4’s, and 5’s) along with a pump.

Asked why they decided to do this, Schoch replied that “the community is just really important to us.”

Slatington Elementary School Principal Todd Breiner noted that a lot of students played their own form of soccer at recess, sans an actual net.

“Kids are resilient; they create their own net,” Breiner said. “It’s never the same as an actual net.”

Breiner said that he’s “grateful” the business decided to gift the equipment to the school so that the students have the equipment to truly play the sport they love so much.

“Patrick’s wife, Marwa Schoch, she came to me with an idea, and I was in support of it,” said Breiner who added they then did some coordinating. “I’m super excited to see it done, super excited to watch the kids play with it.”

The soccer net is currently situated as a center feature on a grassy area of the school’s playground.

“All of the kids (grades 3-6) will have access to it,” Breiner said. “We’ll start with it here, see how it goes.”

So, who was the first student to technically kick the ball into the net.

None other than Augustus Schoch, whose dream is to one day play the exact same sport that his favorite professional athlete, Portuguese superstar soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, excels at.

“That’s his dream,” said Marwa Schoch, who proudly stood by as her son anxiously booted the ball through the new soccer net.

“Happiness,” is the word Augustus used to explain his reaction in seeing the soccer net now grace the very same playground he and his fellow classmates enjoy recess on. “I like kicking.”

Breiner noted that only will the students be able to play the game, they’ll also be able to practice their own independent drills.

“This community never ceases to amaze me,” he said. “It’s awesome to see the willingness of the community supporting our kids; this is just another example of this.”