World Cup / U.S.A. 1994 : A Treat for Feet : SoccerFest Offers Vicarious Thrills to the Many Spectator Wanna-Bes
Geoffrey Martinez wasn’t too upset that his “banana kick”--a trick shot on goal that must be angled around a wall of defenders--missed its mark. The 10-year-old had a lot of company.
Geoffrey was one of 2,000 youths Thursday getting their kicks at SoccerFest, a giant soccer theme park, and many of his peers watched their shots bounce off the simulated defenders.
Geoffrey was undeterred. “It’s fun,” said Geoffrey, at the Los Angeles Convention Center with other members of the Wilmington Boys and Girls Club, “because everyone gets a chance, and because they don’t care if you’re good or not.”
SoccerFest is a 500,000-square-foot soccer celebration opening to the public today and running until the end of the World Cup on July 17. Its organizers say the event, modeled after other professional sports parks such as the NFL Experience, is a chance for those who couldn’t get to the World Cup to get a taste of the international festival.
“This really allows people to participate in the sport,” said Peter Max, the pop artist whose wares are on display at SoccerFest. “They’re able to collect pins, to see star players . . . to feel the real ambience of soccer.”
SoccerFest, sponsored by Coca-Cola and a bevy of other corporations, including the Los Angeles Times, consists of more than 20 pavilions of soccer-related treats, plus three soccer arenas, an arcade and live music from all the World Cup countries.
Giant inflated soccer balls loom over displays on soccer history and soccer heroes while stands offer food from a variety of World Cup countries. Novices and lifelong fans can learn about the sport and test their skills at a variety of interactive booths and contests.
Local clubs and schools are scheduled to play on the fields during most of SoccerFest, but organizers say there will be opportunities for pickup games.
Clinics for all levels will be offered on the fields, some by such World Cup players as Paul Caligiuri of the United States and John Milla of Cameroon. Organizers say they expect other non-soccer celebrities to show up, from opera star Placido Domingo to boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, who was on hand Thursday. Pele, the Brazilian soccer legend, is also expected to make an appearance.
Caligiuri, the U.S. defender from Diamond Bar, said he wished he had access to an event like SoccerFest when he was young to get an introduction to the international aspect of the sport. He said if he was a youth coming to SoccerFest, he would “head straight to the radar gun and see how hard I can kick.”
There are many other options for both the veteran athlete and rank amateur. Visitors can perform a flying bicycle kick or head shot on goal, falling into a cushioned pit. Or they can run a soccer obstacle course, or try to “juggle” a soccer ball with their head, shoulders and feet. (The world champion juggler will be there. He once juggled a ball for more than 18 hours, a record he will try to top July 15.)
Those not as comfortable with real soccer balls can use electronic ones. “Goalkeeper’s Challenge” is a virtual reality-style game in which players watch members of either the United States or Mexican team fire away at the goal on a video display, and must move their own bodies to block the shots.
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For those less athletically inclined, there are pavilions where you need not do anything to become a soccer star. Would-be Peles can make their own soccer cards, selecting country and position. They can then go next door and record their own soccer video. In it, their image will be superimposed on footage placing them at the goal, blocking a shot with a header that sails across the field and scores the decisive World Cup goal.
“We want to make a kid feel like a star,” said Brian Cury, president of the company that designed the videotape pavilion. “We promise we’re going to put you on TV. It may be on your own TV, but it will be on TV.”
Prizes will be awarded for all sorts of achievements, from winning a beach soccer game to answering a question correctly during a clinic.
Each day, the first 5,000 people who get their SoccerFest passport stamped at 15 pavilions will receive a SoccerFest pin. Pins will abound at SoccerFest, not only on the garments of early-birds, but also at a pin display, sales booth and trading spot.
SoccerFest is open through July 17, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. except on July 17, when it closes at 6 p.m. Tickets purchased through TicketMaster are $9.50 for seniors and children 12 and under, and $13.50 for adults (including service charges). At the gate, tickets are $8 for seniors and children and $12 for adults.
Proceeds will go to charities and to provide new inter-city soccer fields and equipment.
“Public, grass-roots events” like SoccerFest will create “the tangible legacy the sport needs to continue (in the United States) after the World Cup is gone,” said SoccerFest executive producer Brad Rothenberg, who is the son of World Cup USA Chairman Alan I. Rothenberg.
There was at least one convert on Thursday. Jimmy Granger, 7, looked around the cavernous hall and said: “I want to do everything.”
