San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
TOUR INTRODUCES COUNTY TO SOCCER TEAM
San Diego FC holds event to drum up fans in Oceanside as first stop on yearlong 18-city tour of region
San Diego’s new professional sports team is on tour to gather support throughout the region and kicked it off Saturday in Oceanside.
San Diego FC, which starts playing in 2025, will join the expanding Major League Soccer, competing against teams from all over North America. Club organizers plan to hit all 18 cities in the county as part of its yearlong Chrome Ball Tour.
Roughly 600 people were at the Junior Seau Pier Amphitheatre in Oceanside on Saturday morning to celebrate the team or just see what the commotion was all about. San Diego FC flags flapped in the wind, the smell of tacos from food trucks filled the air and whistles blew constantly as a 40-team street soccer tournament began. A stainless steel soccer ball, the “Chrome Ball” at the heart of the tour, with all 18 county cities etched in, was on display facing the ocean.
“We’re here to introduce the team,” said Sebastian Morua, an executive from the team that works in brand and community efforts. “We want to connect in a way that is authentic.”
To be clear: There is no roster to cheer for yet (although the team has signed one player), and it’s not like there is a game coming up in a few weeks. Most people that came to the event were excited about the idea of the team and were ready to start cheering whoever gets signed.
Dowene Gregory, 75, of Encinitas, said she was a season ticket holder of the San Diego Chargers and felt “deserted and devastated” when the team left for Los Angeles. She said she decided to come to the Oceanside event with friends when she read a preview about it in the Union-tribune.
“I sure hope it is” a success, she said of San Diego FC. “Soccer is getting more and more popular.”
Other attendees also saw San Diego FC’S arrival as an opportunity for fandom. Steve Brockhoff, 34, of Vista, had set up a tent on the beach with other members of
The Loyals, a fan group for the now-defunct San Diego Loyal. He said he was gutted when the team, which played in a league below MLS, was not folded into San Diego FC. The Loyal later ended up ceasing operations after four seasons.
“I could be online complaining all day,” Brockhoff said of Loyal not being folded in, “or I could be part of something new. Happiness is a choice.”
Saturday’s 40-team tournament had three divisions: adults, girls youth and boys youth. Many of the youth players were excited about San Diego getting an MLS team.
Joseph Delgado, 11, of City Heights, said he is determined to become a professional soccer player and said he would like to play for San Diego FC before he potentially moves on to bigger leagues in Europe. Joseph said his dream players for the San Diego team would be Argentine superstar Lionel Messi, who now plays for MLS team Inter Miami, or Brazilian star Neymar, who
now plays for Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League.
He said the key to success for whoever ends up on San Diego FC is “hard work and keeping your head up.”
Although Major League Soccer is expanding, it’s still considered less skilled and profitable than the biggest soccer leagues in the world, such as the English Premier League, Spain’s La Liga and Germany’s Bundesliga. The Premier League, in particular, has wide appeal in the U.S. because many of its games air on NBC. All of this is clear to Oceanside attendee Eddy Lopez, 25, who has started a “Star Wars”themed San Diego FC supporter group with friends called The 18th Battalion.
He said he has some friends who watch only the Premier League, and others that watch just the Mexican league. Lopez said while they are all soccer fans, MLS wasn’t always on their radar. He said they decided to give MLS a shot once it was announced San Diego was getting a
team. Lopez said they are hoping to wear stormtrooper helmets into Snapdragon Stadium when games start.
Of course, there is another soccer team in town, San Diego Wave, which plays in the National Women’s Soccer League. Diehard fan and season ticket holder Embry Blais, 11, of Rancho Santa Fe, said there might be some competition for fans, but she didn’t see it as an issue.
“I think they can coexist and draw people to both,” Embry said.
The next stop on San Diego FC’S tour will be Feb. 3 in Escondido at Washington Park. If it is anything like the Oceanside event, don’t expect much free stuff. Stickers were handed out at the event, but merchandise was for sale. Some examples were a kids T-shirt for $24, men’s hat for $34 and woman’s hoodie for $85.
A full list of future events is listed on sandiegofc.com/ chrome-ball-tour.