May 18, 2005

Crowd Gives Two Thumbs Up for UYSA Day

The Utah Youth Soccer Association and ReAL Salt Lake held UYSA Day at Rice Eccles Stadium this past Saturday when ReAL took on and defeated the L.A. Galaxy. Chalk this event up as a win for everyone!

To start off, UYSA players and families enjoyed Carnival ReAL, a pre-game extravaganza that featured food, music, contests, and more. The UYSA had their own booth at the carnival to promote the organization and give out free stuff for the kids.

Kam's Kauses, a tent set up by starting midfielder Brian Kamler and his wife Suzanne to help raise funds for local charities and non-profits, donated the evening's funds to the UYSA Scholarship Program. RSL players Noah Palmer and Cameron Knowles made an appearance at the tent to sign autographs. Everyone who visited the booth received a free ticket to win a signed pair of D.J. Countess gloves, and they could buy extra tickets to help raise funds and increase their chances of winning. Be sure to check out the Kam's Kauses tent at the next game!

Just prior to kickoff, a mob of UYSA players wearing their jerseys and waving their team banners and flags with pride cruised the pitch in a colorful parade. The players hammed it up for the jumbo-tron and received a warm welcome from the crowd.

At the end of the UYSA parade, the young soccer stars lined up and made a tunnel for the ReAL Salt Lake and L.A. Galaxy starters to high-five their way through to center field. Both MLS teams were excited to see the enthusiastic faces of the UYSA players and gave a high-five to them all. Two lucky teams were chosen to stay on the field during the National Anthem where the MLS starters chatted with our young stars for a few special moments.

UYSA President, Leisa Vineyard, then took to the field for the honorary kick to start off the match. ReAL forward Jason Kreis was on the receiving end of a perfect pass from Vineyard. However, the UYSA players and staff weren't the only ones who put on a show. ReAL gave a splendid performance for a home crowd of over 18,000 - beating the L.A. Galaxy 2-1. Please visit http://real.saltlake.mlsnet.com/MLS/rsl/ for a recap of Saturday night's game.

The UYSA would like to thank ReAL Salt Lake and all of the UYSA players and families who made UYSA Day a delightful success!