Stolen gear, Warriors’ spirit for Punta Gorda athletic facility

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – Bare shelves line the walls at the Charlotte Warriors facilities after thieves dropped in through the roof and stole children’s equipment.

Two hundred kids rely on the athletic facility for football and cheerleading Charlotte Warriors President Ivan Nelson said there now aren’t enough uniforms, pads and helmets for each participant.

“To come in and see that someone would hurt our children this way and directly affect our kids this way. It hurts. It hurts me a lot,” Nelson said. “They’re going to feel like they’re not going to have a team.”

Nelson said thieves also trashed the concession stand, eating and drinking items sold for profit and leaving a mess in the building.

“It was ransacked. It was really just sad,” he said.

But the Warriors president is using the burglary to teach the kids a message of resilience. He wants that resilience to speak to the thieves, too.

“We’re an unmovable force. We’ll continue to go on. We’ll continue to press on and our kids and our community is stronger than anything you can try to do to us,” Nelson said.

Charlotte County deputies are investigating the incident. To help the Charlotte Warriors visit: http://www.gofundme.com/j0o2ig.