Community
As part of the Rapids Recess program, Rapids player Drew Moor and Clint Irwin appeared at the AXL Academy in Aurora on Thursday, speaking and playing soccer with students at the college preparatory charter school for kids from preschool through 8th grade. Moor and Irwin helped run a soccer clinic with students, running drills and games, before telling the kids about their backgrounds and the importance of eating right and staying healthy. The afternoon ended with autographs for the students, who were also invited out to a future Rapids game at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
For more information on the Rapids Recess program, click here.
Take a look at the photo above of a youngster in Haiti and see if you notice anything familiar.
Most see a kid or young man about to kick a soccer ball - looks like a corner kick. What you might not notice is that it's an adidas MLS match ball. And his cleats? They used to be worn by a Colorado Rapids player.
Here's how this came about.
The team's chaplain, Rev. Brad Kenney - who, by the way, used to be part of the Rapids Media Relations department back in the day - is part of the CrossTraining ministry. One of the functions of the ministry is to put organizations in touch with others that may be able to provide assistance through what they call the Timothy Project.
A couple of months ago Brad was contacted by a local church that was going to Haiti to work with children. So Brad casually mentioned it to a few of the Rapids players in their weekly chats. The players got together to donate some well-conditioned gear which included cleats, pinnies, shin guards, and soccer balls from previous seasons. Brad said that Stew Ceus, who has played for the Haiti national team (his parents are Haitian), also donated personal items.
Thought it was neat seeing these items put to use - and positively affecting a group so far from here. Here's more on the Timothy Project - Haiti for those interested.
It was a story that went viral early in the week, and then spread like wildfire through twitter on Wednesday. You'll quickly realize why when you watch the video above (warning, might need tissues), but I wanted to give another shout out to the Portland Timbers and their fans for this amazing show of compassion towards a young fan. If you're hearing/seeing this for the first time, here's how Portland described the day though a press release:
In front of more than 3,000 Portland Timbers faithful – converted for a day to support a special wish made possible by the club, the Timbers Army and Make-A-Wish® Oregon – eight-year-old Atticus Lane-Dupre netted four goals, including the game-winner in the waning moments of the match, to power The Green Machine to a 10-9 victory over the Portland Timbers at JELD-WEN Field Wednesday afternoon in Portland, Ore.
The Timbers teamed up with Make-A-Wish® Oregon to grant the wish to Atticus, who learned he had cancer last fall and missed his last soccer game of the season with his teammates on The Green Machine. Guided to victory by Timbers head coach Caleb Porter, The Green Machine faced a formidable Timbers side that included a Starting IV.
When Atticus had the chance to make a wish, he chose to scrimmage the Timbers at JELD-WEN Field, home of the Timbers. Prior to Wednesday’s game, Atticus was outfitted with his own locker next to Timbers captain Will Johnson, while he and his family were given a behind-the-scenes tour of the Timbers locker room and workout facilities.
After the game Atticus exchanged jerseys with Johnson, and then, in keeping with Timber's tradition, he held up a slice off the victory log for his four goals.
Rivalries in sports are fierce. Fans and teams from Boston and New York are pitted against one another across all major league sports (Revolution-Red Bulls, Celtics-Knicks, Bruins-Rangers and of course, Yankees-Red Sox). The teams don’t like each other; the fans don’t like each other; the rest of the country has an opinion on all of it.
But, in the wake of the Boston Marathon tragedy, the rivalry dissolved, revealing a deep amount of respect between the two cities. Fans laid down their differences, and the New England Revolution supporters and New York Red Bulls supporters marched together.
WATCH: #NERevs & #RBNY supporters march together at Red Bull Arena this past Saturday #BostonStrong nerevs.us/kjvPX #mls
— NE Revolution (@NERevolution) April 22, 2013
Yankees-Red Sox is one of the most heated rivalries in all of sports. It makes for exciting baseball when the two storied franchises meet. But when faced with adversity, the teams laid down their differences and the Yankees stood in support of the Red Sox.
We stand united with the @redsox: twitter.com/Yankees/status…
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 16, 2013
New York isn’t the only city that stood up for Boston. Outpourings of support came from all over the United States, including Chicago.
Well done, Chicago. twitter.com/WayneBrant/sta…
— Wayne Brant (@WayneBrant) April 16, 2013
A number of teams played Sweet Caroline as a tribute to Boston, wore black armbands, held moments of silence and showed their support in creative ways, including a touching tifo from FC Dallas fans.
Awesome tribute from the Beer Garden #BostonStrong #TexasStrong vine.co/v/bUUT5jFlgOF
— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) April 21, 2013
Tonight #FCDallas will wear two armbands in honor of the people of Boston, Mass. and West, Texas.… instagram.com/p/YV92WkLCNZ/
— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) April 20, 2013
Local teams stood behind the city in a number of ways.
Boston you're OUR home #BostonStrong twitpic.com/cjupur
— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) April 16, 2013
Here's a peek at the new adidas #BostonStandsAsOne warm up shirts the @celtics will wear today vs. the Knicks: bit.ly/14EEnu9
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 20, 2013
Pats, Revs & Kraft Group employees stand as #OneBoston: twitpic.com/cl86rk #BostonStrong
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 22, 2013
Coach said it's overwhelming to see how much teams have done to show support for city (FLA wore local police hats during warm-ups today)^CS
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 21, 2013
The entire world of sports turned its heart to Boston, from runners of the London Marathon to athletic gear rivals who stood as one in support of victims of the tragedy.
Author Golden, in Memoirs of a Geisha, said “Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.” With that in mind, the show of strength and togetherness is nothing less than inspiring.
Until a few weeks ago I had never heard of the group, Rabbit, nor of their song, "In My Blue Jeans." But now I can't get the song out of my head.
I first heard the song in video called Soccer Walking New York, then in Soccer Walking Philadelphia, and Soccer Walking Chicago, and, you can see where I'm going...all across America!
Former MLS player Jared Montz runs his own soccer drills website called OnlineSoccerAcademy.com. Jared is using his site to promote Soccer Walking America - a 45 day, 15 city video series tour he created to raise awareness of the fight against malaria and encourage soccer players worldwide to juggle to save lives in the OSA World Juggle-a-thon for Nothing But Nets on April 25, 2013; World Malaria Day.
Jared came to Colorado to shoot his video on April 8-9. He was able to get a lot of footage before one of our now weekly snow storms, and then went to the Sports Dome to get Clint Irwin, Drew Moor, Tony Cascio, and Edson Buddle to join in. Jared also juggles with Academy midfielder Bryan Windsor and his brother and dad.
You can participate, too. Join the "Juggle to Get Better, Juggle to Save Lives" World Juggle-a-thon for Nothing But Nets on April 25th at 6pm from anywhere in the world.
Click here to become a Juggler and Fundraise
Or Click here to make a One Time Donation
Then go watch the rest of the videos from each of the other MLS markets on the OnlineSoccerAcedmy YouTube page and get that song stuck in your head, too. Hey, oh, oh!
Colorado Rapids Team President, Tim Hinchey, alongside Rapids front office staff and fans, will be “Stepping Out” to stop diabetes.
The Walk to fight diabetes has been taking place for more than 20 years and has raised over $150,000,000. Last year, more than 150,000 participants across the country raised over $20 million to stop diabetes. Step Out participants are committed to walk and to raise money to change the future, and make a positive impact on the lives of those affected by diabetes.
The American Diabetes Association 5k walk and 10k run will take place on Saturday, October 20th at the Denver Aquarium at 9am. OFFICIAL SITE
Major League Soccer is committed to supporting the communities where we live and play our games, and to providing an environment in which our staff, clubs, players, partners and supporters are treated with dignity and respect. We will not tolerate discrimination, bias, prejudice or harassment of any kind.
Join Major League Soccer and Take the Pledge...DON'T CROSS THE LINE!
"I pledge to treat others with diginity and respect and will not tolerate discrimination, bias, prejudice or harassment of any kind."
On September 8, Kroenke Sports Charities hosted an equipment drive to benefit non-profit A Precious Child in honor of Aurora shooting victim Jessica Ghawi, who once interned for one of our sister properties. The response from the community was awesome, collecting over 25,000 items and $30,000 for the Jessica Redfield Ghawi Sports Journalism Scholarship. NBC national recognized the efforts in this clip below.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Every few months the community relations department organizes an 'signing' day, where they collect each department's need's for autographs and set them out for the players to autograph.
The most common use for all the autographed gear is for donations, which we get a lot of, especially for functions where they are used as fundraising items.
The remainder is often used for gifts, sometimes for partners and / or sponsors, and sometimes for prizes or giveaways at various club functions.
That's Andre Akpan in the distance in the hallway right outside the locker room. He was one of the first to tackle the 300-400 items after today's practice. The rest of the guys then slowly tickled out, each individually signing each piece.
Re-Posting MLS WORKS' Blog Post from MLSsoccer.com...
Join Gatorade, MLS, and the soccer community in supporting young female athletes to stay in the game.
Did you know?
- In 1971, one in 27 high school girls participated in sports.
- In 2012, one in 2.5 high school girls play sports!
In 1972, Title IX gave women and men equal access to federally funded programs. That means your mother, your wife, your sister and even YOU have seen equal opportunities to be a young athlete.
However, while we have managed to gain young girls equal access to sports, they're still dropping out at twice the rate boys do by age 14.
We want to help change this trend.
Why?
- A girl who participates in sports is more likely to get better grades and graduate high school with scholarships to college.
- A girl who participates in sports is less likely to get involved in drugs.
- A girl who participates in sports will have greater confidence and self-esteem keeping her from depression and eating disorders.
- A girl who participates in sports is less likely to engage in risky sexual behavior or become pregnant.
How can you help?
Support the cause by changing your profile picture to your 14 year-old self (or a special female in your life like your daughter or wife) playing sports. Tweet about how playing sports helped you get to where you are today using the #KeepHerInTheGame hashtag. Most importantly, continue to encourage your daughter, granddaughter, niece, sister and friends to keep her in the game.
For more information, visit www.womenssportsfoundation.org.
En Español: http://www.mlssoccer.com/blog/post/2012/06/21/%C3%BAnanse-al-mls-y-apoyen-keepherinthegame