Downey students were part of the crowd to watch the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA battle it out at the Home Depot Center on Nov. 1, after being given free tickets by the organizations.

“Most of us don’t even know why they did this,” said Downey senior Mariana Mejorado. “I guess they were filling seats to make it look more crowded on TV. It just really gave me something to do though, and I had a lot of fun.”

Mejorado was wrong however, as were many of the students that attended the game. The event, which was organized by Downey vice principal Horacio Freijo and USA Chivas representative Alisia Mendoza, was for a college scholarship called School of the Game. California State University Dominguez Hills, Downey High, and Chivas USA are united in this organization and awarded varsity soccer player Antonio Roman a $250 college scholarship and varsity soccer coach Steve Barber a $75 gift card to Staples.

“I nominated [Roman] due to his excellence in character on and off the field,” said Freijo. “He is a very dedicated player and exemplary student. He needed to be recognized. I hope that this gives him the courage to continue his college career.”

Freijo hopes that this event will bring a partnership with everybody and he is going to try and continue the organization to help bring fundraising and scholarship opportunities to the school and it’s students.

“It was seriously a life changing experience,” said Downey junior Stephanie Gutierrez. “I hadn’t been to a game since I was five years old. [As a Galaxy fan] it was kind of cool to see how Beckham actually moves, like how he has different strategies to score a goal. It was something different, something new.”

Students also received excellent seats, considering the tickets were free. Many of them arrived hours early to the game just to be sure that they would be able to actually watch the game. Downey senior Monica Rodriguez was lucky enough to sit five rows away from the field, and, being a Chivas fan, this was definitely a plus for her she said.

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Published: November 20, 2009 - Volume 8 - Issue 31