The Seattle Sounders hosted an event at Yesler Terrace Park on Monday where many of the family members from the new Ownership Group, including Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and music icons Ciara and Macklemore, showed up to celebrate and engage with youth from the Seattle community.
Additionally, Sounders players, staff and Alliance Council members all attended the festivities, spending the morning participating interactive games with kids and playing small-sided soccer.
Over 150 kids from the Yesler community attended the event and spent time with both the new owners and Sounders FC First Team players, including Stefan Frei, Cristian Roldan, Jordan Morris and Raúl Ruidíaz. With all the attendees donning shirts that said “Family”, it was a celebration of the club strengthening its ties to the Seattle community through the new local Ownership Group.
“For Ciara and I, and Macklemore, we really wanted to be able to keep it here in Seattle, and really do something special here,” said Wilson. “[We want] to continue to win championships, continue to make a difference. Obviously, sports mean a lot to this city.”
Owners, players and local kids all joined together at various activations throughout the event. Whether it was the life-sized Jenga games, poster-building station, small-sided soccer matches on the Rave Pitch or the freestyle soccer performance by the Skills Squad, the entire morning was geared toward introducing the newest members of the Sounders Family to the local community.
“In our house, before we would say that football is family,” said Ciara. “But now we say football and fútbol is family. It’s really cool to say that and to be a part of the organization now.”
Ultimately, the event centered on recognizing the history of the club, while also embracing a bold vision for the future.
“That’s what today is about as well, celebrating you guys,” Ciara told a large group of children from the Yesler community.
“Anything you guys want to do, anything you guys believe in, is really possible, simply if you believe,” she added. “I always say that all it takes is one person to believe in whatever dream you want to accomplish. And that one person is you.”
