Beckham scores again with a gift
David Beckham was on his way to a post-game TV interview when he stopped, took off his jersey and autographed it. This was the jersey Beckham wore Wednesday when he made his first start and scored his first goal for the Galaxy.
He gave the jersey to Allison Whalen, a 16-year-old soccer player who begins chemotherapy treatment next week for skin cancer.
Whalen was diagnosed with melanoma in June, her father Chip Whalen said. Set to begin her junior year at Long Beach Poly High this month, Whalen is also a midfielder on the North Huntington Beach club’s under-17 team, a club soccer program coached by Galaxy forward Alan Gordon.
Whalen’s health had worsened recently and when Gordon found out she was about to undergo treatment he invited her to Wednesday’s SuperLiga semifinal game against D.C. United to cheer her up. But he didn’t expect his new teammate, who scored a goal and had an assist in the Galaxy’s 2-0 win, to help out the way he did.
“David was just so willing to do it. As soon as I mentioned it to him he said, ‘Oh, no problem. Whatever she needs,’ ” Gordon said.
So after the game Beckham handed over his shirt to a delighted Whalen.
Galaxy jersey sales are up 700% from last year, and the cost of a Beckham-replica jersey ranges from $80 to $300 on EBay. But the autographed Beckham jersey Whalen has is worth about $5,000, sports memorabilia expert David Kohler said.
Last week when Beckham made his MLS debut, he gave his game jersey to D.C. United midfielder Ben Olsen.
Gordon thinks the Beckham jersey is a cool souvernir for Whalen to have, especially as she starts cancer treatment.
“He just made her year,” Gordon said.
Times correspondent Ken Fowler contributed to this report.
