CARSON, Calif. -- While most of southern California may have been dressed in St. Patrick's Day green on Tuesday night, downtown Los Angeles' LA Live Entertainment Campus was covered in red and white for the kickoff of "24 Hours of Chivas USA."
The event features 24 continuous hours of short-sided games, performances, live music and appearances by the Chivas USA players in the heart of downtown Los Angeles.
"It's a celebration of the opening of our fifth season," said Chivas USA president and CEO Shawn Hunter. "We wanted to bring the passion of Chivas USA to downtown L.A. and celebrate with the fans. So far, it's a huge hit."
Tuesday night's kickoff included five-on-five games of soccer, a live Mariachi band, and the first public appearance by the 2009 ChivaGirls, the official Chivas USA dancers.
Fans could also sign up for raffles, win free prizes, play soccer video games and even meet a few of the Chivas USA players.
"It's always good to come and mingle with the fans," said Chivas USA defender Shavar Thomas. "It also introduces Chivas USA to people passing by who have never been to one of our games."
Veteran Carey Talley and new signing Eduardo Lillingston were all smiles as they talked with fans and signed autographs.
"It's pretty neat," said Talley. "I'm itching to get on the Xbox 360 and play against some of my teammates."
"I actually need to go out and buy one of those games so I can show my son that his dad was actually pretty cool at one time."
Good humor abounded at the opening ceremony of the event, and surely continued through the night as local teams came downtown to play short-sided games on the temporary field. A free breakfast was then be served at 7 a.m., followed by appearances by Disney mascots and the taking of the official Chivas USA 2009 team photograph at 2 p.m.
The whole thing was to be capped off with a closing ceremony at 6 p.m. that includes another performance by the ChivaGirls.
"This is such a great location; it brings so many people down to one central area," said Hunter. "We're excited to bring our great fans together with all the good things happening in downtown L.A."
While "24 Hours of Chivas USA" gives the players a chance to relax and enjoy a day out, the team is still very focused on Saturday's opening match against Colorado.
"We've had two months to prepare for this game," said Talley. "I think the guys are really itching to get out there.
"I'm ready to go and I know the rest of the team is too."
No comments:
Post a Comment