This is part of the L.A. Times 2021 gift guide. See the full guide here.
Whether you are shopping for someone who loves to watch sports or compete in sports, here’s a wide range of Southern California-inspired gifts for the any sports enthusiast on your holiday list.
A round at Rustic Canyon Golf Course
You don’t have to spend big or be a country club member to play a round at an elite Southern California golf course. Los Angeles is dotted with affordable options, but Rustic Canyon Golf Course is worth a drive north to Ventura County for a change of landscape at a bargain rate. The course at 15100 Happy Camp Canyon Road in Moorpark was designed by Gil Hanse, Jim Wagner and Geoff Shackelford in 2002. It’s known for its natural hazards and minimalist design, consistently ranking among the top 100 most affordable, high-quality courses in the United States.
Prices vary | 👉 Purchase here
Kapowui Surf Club lessons
If anyone you’re gifting has learning to surf on their bucket list, get them a certificate for beginner lessons at Kapowui Surf Club, an award-winning school adjacent to Parking Lot 5 South at 2701 Barnard Way in Santa Monica. The club gets rave reviews online for patient instructors and proximity to beaches. Starting at $90 for a one-hour session; the fee includes a surf board, a wetsuit and an instructor. The club also offers group lessons, Sunday morning yoga and surfing, rental of multiperson paddleboards and pictures and video of sessions.
$90 | 👉 Purchase here
Beginner lessons at Rockreation
Do you know anyone mesmerized by speed climbing at the Tokyo Olympics? Give them the gift of indoor rock climbing lessons and gym time at Rockreation, 11866 La Grange Ave. in Los Angeles. The gym has 10,000 square feet of climbing wall space, including a large boulder area, more than 200 top-rope routes and routes up to 65 feet in length. Classes are available from beginners to advanced climbers. Rookies can rent all climbing equipment needed from the gym.
$28-$100 | 👉 Purchase here
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Go Skate
Skateboarding is a Southern California tradition, but it’s sometimes hard to find an on-ramp to the sport. You can give the gift of private skateboard lessons from Go Skate for those at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels at your home or a nearby skate park. If you don’t have equipment, including a skateboard, you can rent everything needed for $25 a day. Online lessons, complete with video tutorials, also are available.
$139 | 👉 Purchase here
And Still
Would a 1988 Dodgers championship shirt be the perfect option for someone on your list? What about a shirt featuring the original 1992 Dream Team? Perhaps you’ve caught Fernandomania and would love a Fernando Valenzuela jersey? And Still is one of the best places in Southern California to hunt for sports apparel gifts. The vintage store features throwback jerseys, hats and shirts.
Prices vary | 👉 Purchase here
Drip LA
Sneaker heads have a variety of options in the Los Angeles area. Drip LA, 6376 Hollywood Blvd., was founded in 1975 and has long been a destination for unique sneakers collections, streetwear and athleisure. While it’s a boutique, gifts are still accessible here for lower-end budgets. Shirts can be found for less than $40, while some shoes start at $90.
Prices vary | 👉 Purchase here
Round Two
Sneaker fan Sean Wotherspoon founded this Los Angeles shop featuring vintage sports clothing and hard-to-find sneakers. Wotherspoon collaborated with Adidas to produce the Round Two signature Samba shoe, which uses upcycled material. Rare sports apparel doesn’t necessarily mean steep prices. Shorts start at $30 and shirts at $60.
Prices vary | 👉 Purchase here
My Soccer Store
This family-owned store at 916 W. Burbank Blvd. in Burbank has a vast inventory that includes hard-to-find international soccer jerseys and T-shirts, along with equipment needed to outfit anyone from youth to adult players. U.S., Mexican and Latin American kits are well represented, but the store also sells jerseys from countries ranging from Armenia to Senegal.
Prices vary | 👉 Purchase here
Los Angeles Times store
The Times has a vast inventory of books, magazines, replica pages, framed pictures, championship commemorative coins and more celebrating Southern California’s biggest stars and most popular teams. Kobe Bryant fans have a wide array of options to celebrate the life of the Lakers legend. Dodger fans can relive the team’s most recent championship run. And fans of Shohei Ohtani can purchase a poster depicting the two-way star as a Japanese comic book hero.
$11-$249 | 👉 Purchase here
Clash at the Coliseum
Tickets to any Los Angeles area sporting event make a great gift. The Lakers, Clippers, Sparks, Dodgers, Angels, Rams, Chargers, Kings, Ducks, LAFC, Galaxy and Angel City FC give Southern California fans many opportunities to experience pro sports at a variety of price points. But if you’re looking for something different, two events are coming to Southern California in early 2022. Super Bowl tickets are extraordinarily expensive, but a week before the big game, NASCAR will open the 2022 season for the first time in Los Angeles with an exhibition race at the Coliseum. That could give someone on your gift list a nontraditional L.A. sports experience.
$65 for adults, $10 for kids | 👉 Purchase here
Rose Bowl Parade
The Tournament of Roses is an iconic parade in Pasadena that was among the many special events shuttered in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rose Parade returns at 8 a.m. Jan. 1 for its 133rd trip down Colorado Boulevard after it debuted in front of a crowd of 3,000 in 1890. More recently, Rose Parade and Pasadena police estimate the event typically draws around 700,000 spectators. While we can’t confirm the accuracy of the crowd counts, it is safe to say that a lot of people attend it. The theme is “Dream. Believe. Achieve,” and LeVar Burton, an actor, director and children’s literacy advocate, will be the grand marshal. Look for elaborate floats, marching bands and equestrian units. Judges will again award trophies for top float design, use of flowers and entertainment value. While it’s possible to see portions of the parade for free, finding a good spot is extraordinarily competitive, and tickets help put your gift recipient in the middle of the action.
$60-$110 | 👉 Purchase here
“Paradise Found: A High School Football Team’s Rise From the Ashes”
“Rising from the ashes” is a common metaphor in the athletic comeback genre, but in this case it is literally the story of the Paradise Bobcats, most of whom lost almost everything in the 2018 wildfire that reduced 18,000 homes in the California town to smoldering ember. The role of sports is sometimes overstated in helping communities heal. Not here. Bill Plaschke, for 25 years an L.A. Times columnist, begins the book by telling in harrowing detail the flight to safety, then turning to the rebuild, which finds its raw, gripping voice in the individual stories of more than a dozen players and coaches.
$30 | 👉 Purchase here
“All In: An Autobiography”
Athletic activism has its antecedents in the 1960s, when tennis star Billie Jean King — who grew up on 36th Street in Long Beach — began her fight for gender, racial and economic equity that continues to this day. The 432-page book, co-written with journalists Johnette Howard and Maryanne Vollers, carries King’s unmistakably forceful and feisty voice and shares the author’s most personal struggles. Like Andre Agassi’s 2009 autobiography, “Open,” King’s memoir is not only great reading but also an essential public service.
$30 | 👉 Purchase here
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