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Celebs, Stars Participate In Charity Game
In a boisterous Home Depot Center atmosphere, celebrities participated in a half-field friendly game to raise support and awareness for marrow and cord blood transplant patients.
Jan 18, 2009 3:19:00 AM
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Celebrities, stars, and former greats alike participated in Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra’s Celebrity Soccer Challenge on Saturday.
The event, hosted by the sports couple, benefited Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the Mia Hamm Foundation, specifically patients needing a bone marrow transplant.
Guests included skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, actor Dule Hill, as well as an array of former and current soccer stars both of the women’s and men’s game.
“It’s fun, it’s a fun experience,” said Houston Dynamo striker Brian Ching. “You get to meet some celebrities and kick the ball around. It’s something I’m glad I was a part of this year.”
The Home Depot Center took on a jovial atmosphere for the event. Celebrities autographed miniature soccer balls and launched them into the crowd, bright florescent posters claimed that it was Suzy’s birthday, Journey and The Proclaimers pumped through the stadium’s speakers. The crowd fit in one side of short sides of the stadium, but that didn’t prevent them from transmitting their boisterous excitement to the players on the half-field. Mostly families, the audience seemed to cheer the loudest for the stars of the women’s game, Hamm in particular.
The event brought together players of drastically differing ability. Besides the pros, some, like Cuomo, look decent on the ball. Others struggle to complete a simple pass. Nevertheless, it brought out the inner soccer-lover in everyone.
“I love soccer,” said Dule Hill, star of shows such as West Wing and Psych. “I haven’t played since my freshman year of high school, but it’s the family sport, so I just wanted to get out here and live my pro dream for one day.”
Behind all the brouhaha and fun, however, was a serious cause. At halftime, bone marrow recipients were introduced to their donors for the first time in an emotional reminder of mortality.
“The cause is the most important thing,” said New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis. “You could see out here at halftime I don’t think there was a dry eye out there.”
The crowd was urged to sign up to donate. Last year, 200 signed, and one positive match was found.
“Once I found out what it was for I thought it was a great cause,” Ching said of first being invited. “Mia’s done a fantastic job of getting people involved and getting people on the donor list.”
Back on the pitch, a match was being played. Through a score miscount, FC Mia was robbed of victory as Nomar United took the game in overtime.
It didn’t matter. The real winners were the bone marrow recipients.
Read a full match report and extended commentary in the Goal.com Blog.
--Zac Lee Rigg, Goal.com
The event, hosted by the sports couple, benefited Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the Mia Hamm Foundation, specifically patients needing a bone marrow transplant.
Guests included skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, actor Dule Hill, as well as an array of former and current soccer stars both of the women’s and men’s game.
“It’s fun, it’s a fun experience,” said Houston Dynamo striker Brian Ching. “You get to meet some celebrities and kick the ball around. It’s something I’m glad I was a part of this year.”
The Home Depot Center took on a jovial atmosphere for the event. Celebrities autographed miniature soccer balls and launched them into the crowd, bright florescent posters claimed that it was Suzy’s birthday, Journey and The Proclaimers pumped through the stadium’s speakers. The crowd fit in one side of short sides of the stadium, but that didn’t prevent them from transmitting their boisterous excitement to the players on the half-field. Mostly families, the audience seemed to cheer the loudest for the stars of the women’s game, Hamm in particular.
The event brought together players of drastically differing ability. Besides the pros, some, like Cuomo, look decent on the ball. Others struggle to complete a simple pass. Nevertheless, it brought out the inner soccer-lover in everyone.
“I love soccer,” said Dule Hill, star of shows such as West Wing and Psych. “I haven’t played since my freshman year of high school, but it’s the family sport, so I just wanted to get out here and live my pro dream for one day.”
Behind all the brouhaha and fun, however, was a serious cause. At halftime, bone marrow recipients were introduced to their donors for the first time in an emotional reminder of mortality.
“The cause is the most important thing,” said New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis. “You could see out here at halftime I don’t think there was a dry eye out there.”
The crowd was urged to sign up to donate. Last year, 200 signed, and one positive match was found.
“Once I found out what it was for I thought it was a great cause,” Ching said of first being invited. “Mia’s done a fantastic job of getting people involved and getting people on the donor list.”
Back on the pitch, a match was being played. Through a score miscount, FC Mia was robbed of victory as Nomar United took the game in overtime.
It didn’t matter. The real winners were the bone marrow recipients.
Read a full match report and extended commentary in the Goal.com Blog.
--Zac Lee Rigg, Goal.com
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