COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Crew and its charitable arm, the Crew Soccer Foundation (CSF), announced today that the club will wear jerseys adorned with a "Soccer Aid V" patch on Saturday (July 28), when in plays host to Aston Villa FC of the English Premier League at 7:30 p.m. It marks the first time in Soccer Aid's five-year history that a jersey patch (below) has been incorporated into the program and one of the jerseys will be first unveiled at Friday's Welcome Reception at the Statehouse Atrium.
In the weeks following the game, the jerseys will be autographed and auctioned off on-line as part of Soccer Aid, a unique, annual fund-raising program of CSF that capitalizes on soccer fans' passion for the sport to raise money for charity, including the Mid-Ohio Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), which remains the program's primary beneficiary. Through its first four years, Soccer Aid has raised more than $25,000 for JDRF.
The concept is simple: Soccer fans bid on-line at CrewSoccerFoundation.org and TheCrew.com for a chance to win the official autographed game jerseys, as well as the opportunity to experience the thrill of match day at one-of-a-kind Columbus Crew Stadium. The winning bidder will receive not only the autographed jersey, but will also be entitled to two Center Circle Club seats to the Crew's game vs. the Chicago Fire on Sept. 8, a Soccer Aid T-shirt, on-field recognition and the opportunity to play a 30-minute scrimmage on the field prior to the Sept. 8 game. The auctions are scheduled to kick-off on Aug. 6.
"The Crew and the Crew Soccer Foundation are committed to supporting the exceptional efforts of JDRF to find a cure for type 1 diabetes, while also striving to assist other worthy causes within our community and fund the good work currently being done by CSF," said Mark McCullers, Crew General Manager and President of the CSF board of directors. "Soccer Aid is a terrific program that helps advance each of those imperatives while creating compelling experiences and memories. The addition of the patches is an exciting new development this year and the fact that many of the jerseys will be 'game-worn' will make them that much more unique and desirable."
Soccer Aid was modeled after the highly successful "Football Aid" program, which was founded by Craig Paterson in the United Kingdom in 2000 (and launched in 2001) out of a father's desire to create an exciting and rewarding way to raise funds for diabetes research. Football Aid now benefits a host of charitable organizations and has spread throughout Europe. It was brought to the United States in 2003 by former Crew head coach Greg Andrulis, whose son, Austin, has type 1 diabetes.
The Crew Soccer Foundation is dedicated to giving back to the community that supports Ohio's Major League Soccer club, by serving as a catalyst for community investment and development. Leveraging the club's unique status as the state's - and region's - acknowledged soccer leader, the CSF works to advance the sport at all levels and enrich the overall quality of life in central Ohio and beyond, with an emphasis on developing the potential of our area's young people.
For more information on Soccer Aid or the Crew Soccer Foundation, please contact Dave Stephany, executive director, at 614-447-4190, or visit us on the Web at www.CrewSoccerFoundation.org. For more information on JDRF, please call Amy Carierro, executive director of the Mid-Ohio Chapter, at 614-464-2873.
