Event to Partner with Mia Hamm & Nomar Garciaparra Celebrity Soccer Challenge with Proceeds to benefit the Mia Hamm Foundation and Grassroot Soccer
NEW YORK (January 17,2013) â LAFEST (Los Angeles Film & Entertainment Soccer Tournament) announced today they are kicking off their first annual entertainment industry soccer event on March 24, 2013 at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles. The all-day event will feature a 5v5 entertainment industry soccer tournament, a youth soccer showcase and tournament and culminate with the 4th Annual Mia Hamm & Nomar Garciaparra Celebrity Soccer Challenge. LAFEST will be the preeminent soccer event of its kind on the West Coast, bringing together film, entertainment, media and advertising professionals and celebrities who are passionate about soccer. In addition to Soccer Hall of Famer and former US Women’s National Soccer Team Captain Mia Hamm, Survivor: Africa Winner and Grassroot Soccer Co-Founder Ethan Zohn and former Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodger great Nomar Garciaparra, the event expects to welcome celebrity participants from the entertainment and sports worlds. A full list of participants will be announced. Proceeds will be donated to the Mia Hamm Foundation and Grassroot Soccer.
LAFEST marks the coming together of the New York Film and Entertainment Soccer Tournament (NYFEST) founded in 2011 by Sony Pictures Classics EVP of Acquisitions & Production and lifelong footballer, Dylan Leiner, filmmaker and former professional soccer player, Jeffrey Saunders, and the Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra Celebrity Soccer Challenge, which was launched in 2008. Past participants of NYFEST have included Sony Pictures Classics, Magnolia Pictures, Facebook, Steiner Studios, Wieden + Kennedy, Gersh, CAA, ICM, PARADIGM, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, ESPN, R/GA and AKQA as well as notable names such as Orlando Bloom, Ethan Hawke, Alessandro Nivola, Isaach de Bankole, Frank Whaley and Andrew Shue in NY and Andy Samberg, Kobe Bryant and Landon Donovan as part of the Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra Challenge.
âWhen we came up with the idea for NYFEST a few years ago, we always hoped to one day launch a similar type event in the entertainment capital of the world but we knew it depended on the right partners to make the event a reality. In the Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra Challenge and Ethan Zohn and Grassroot Soccer we have found not only the perfect partners, but two incredible foundations to which we are so proud to be able to lend our support. That LA is also home to Major League Soccerâs reigning champions is the icing on the cake,â stated LAFESTâs Leiner and Saunders.
“I am fired up to be a part of the inaugural LAFEST and grateful to have Grassroot Soccer, which uses the power of soccer in the fight against AIDS, as one of the beneficiaries. Having been a part of both NYFEST and the Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra Celebrity Soccer Challenge, I know that bringing them together on the west coast for LAFEST promises to be a fun and inspirational day,” said Ethan Zohn, Co-Founder, Grassroot Soccer.
âWe are so excited to partner with LAFEST and Grassroot Soccer to create this unique event where as player or fan there is so much to experienceâ, said Mia Hamm. âCelebrating the sport we love, within a festival atmosphere will only increase the opportunity to further grow awareness for these important causes. I have no doubt that this new partnership will enable us to build on the momentum we’ve generated from previous years and have the most successful event to date.â
LAFEST will be hosting a launch reception from 3:30-5:30PM on Monday, January 21 at Ciseroâs (306 Main St) in Park City. Anyone interested in attending please contact Jeffrey Saunders directly (jeff@cinemacapital.com).
To register a team or to find out more about LAFEST, please visit www.lafest.net
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ABOUT LAFEST
LAFEST (LA Film and Entertainment Soccer Tournament) marks the coming together of the New York Film and Entertainment Soccer Tournament (NYFEST) concept, founded in 2011 by Sony Pictures Classics EVP of Acquisitions & Production and college soccer player, Dylan Leiner and filmmaker and former professional soccer player, Jeffrey Saunders, along with Survivor: Africa Winner and former professional soccer player Ethan Zohnâs Grassroot Soccer Foundation and the Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra Celebrity Soccer Challenge, which was launched in 2008 by soccer Hall-of-famer Mia Hamm and baseball great Nomar Garciaparra. LAFEST will be the preeminent soccer event of its kind on the west coast, bringing together soccer players, their families, fans and aficionados of the game from the film, television, music, publishing, fashion and new media worlds. The event consists of an entertainment industry soccer tournament, a youth soccer showcase and tournament and culminates with the Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra Celebrity Soccer Challenge. The event will take place at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles. Proceeds from the event go to support the Mia Hamm Foundation and Grassroot Soccer.
For more information visit www.lafest.net
ABOUT NYFEST
NYFEST (NY Film and Entertainment Soccer Tournament) brings together the film and entertainment communities to benefit underserved youth. Founded in 2011 by Sony Pictures Classics EVP, Acquisitions & Production and lifelong footballer along with former professional soccer player and filmmaker, Jeffrey Saunders, NYFEST is positioned at the nexus of the entertainment and soccer worlds. The event consists of an entertainment industry soccer tournament, a youth soccer showcase and a celebrity soccer game. Proceeds from the event support charities including the Claudio Reyna Foundation and the City Soccer in the Community foundation.
For more information visit www.nyfest.org
ABOUT THE MIA HAMM FOUNDATION
The Mia Hamm Foundation is a non-profit, national organization dedicated to raising funds and awareness for families in need of a marrow or cord blood transplant and the development of more opportunities for young women to participate in sport. The Mia Hamm Foundation is a reflection of Mia’s life experiences. She created this foundation to benefit important issues that have directly affected her throughout her life. For more information visit www.miafoundation.org.
ABOUT GRASSROOT SOCCER
Grassroot Soccer is a non-profit organization founded in 2002 that uses the power of soccer to educate, inspire, and empower communities to stop the spread of HIV. Grassroot Soccer envisions a world mobilized through soccer to create an AIDS-free generation. GRS has programs in multiple countries with flagship sites in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Founded by four professional soccer players, Grassroot Soccer is mobilizing the most vulnerable population of youth ages 12â19 to break the cycle of AIDS by engaging local coaches who equip young people with the knowledge, skills and support they need to avoid HIV. For more information visit grassrootsoccer.org.