AT-RISK TEENS IN 1906 ULTRAS SUPPORTERS SECTION
“Having Fun Getting Rowdy in a Positive Way”
SSVCF has partnered with the 1906 Ultras supporters group, San Jose city councilmember Sam Liccardo and his District Three Neighborhood Advisory Group (D3 NAG), and CommUniverCity San Jose, to provide season tickets for the 2008 San Jose Earthquakes Major League Soccer club to a half dozen at-risk inner city teens.
Six teens and two staff chaperones from the city-run McKinley Roosevelt Youth Center in downtown San Jose are attending all 17 Earthquakes home games this season at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara and McAfee Coliseum in Oakland.
The teens will spend each game standing (no sitting allowed in a supporters group), chanting and cheering along with and as full-fledged members of the 1906 Ultras, a European-style supporters group of the Earthquakes whose members are known for their loyalty to the club and passion for the game. Meanwhile the teens will be bonding with their largely 20-something near-peer role models, who when not supporting the Quakes are productive members of society -- college students, engineers, lawyers and active military personnel. And on August 19, courtesy of the Earthquakes, the teens were treated to a private practice where they met the players and coaches.
“I thought about us contacting an organization that focuses on preventing youth from joining gangs or doing drugs,” says 1906 Ultras head Dan Margarit, a recent Boston College grad who first joined an ultras group as teen growing up in Bucharest, Romania. “Not necessarily an organization dealing with kids already involved with drugs and gangs, but one focused on preventing these things. The 1906 Ultras can provide an alternative for these kids to socialize, spend some quality time and have fun getting rowdy in a positive way.”
Margarit approached SSVCF president Don Gagliardi, who also chairs councilmember Liccardo’s D3 NAG roundtable of downtown neighborhood leaders. “One of the D3 NAG’s priorities has been to seek out activities for local teens so they aren’t attracted to gangs, so a partnership between 1906 Ultras and D3 NAG was a perfect fit,” explains Gagliardi, who enlisted the support of councilmember Liccardo and his fellow neighborhood leaders.
“I’m delighted with this partnership.” Councilmember Liccardo said. "It is so important for young people, particularly our most at-risk youth, to have positive role models and exposure to healthy, fun events.”
“This program is a wonderful example of how partnerships can be built among the community to provide positive activities and role models for youths in financially troubled times,” agrees Joan Rivas Cosby, an activist in the Five Wounds Brookwood Terrace neighborhood who heads up the D3 NAG working group on youth activities and gang abatement. “We are grateful to all the organizations involved for their effort for their efforts to broaden the horizons of young people while having fun.”
D3 NAG kicked in funds for a pair of season tickets to match the pair offered up by 1906 Ultras and those offered by SSVCF, for a total of six season tickets for at-risk teens. CommUniverCity San Jose, which promotes collaboration among San Jose State University, the City of San Jose, and the surrounding community, rounded out the joint venture by bringing in the McKinley Roosevelt Youth Center and ponying up for two season tickets for the adult recreation leaders to accompany the teens to the games.
"My kids had a real good time. They were chanting and standing, really enjoying themselves. The group members were very welcoming, helped us find our seats and feel part of the group," McKinley Center recreational leader Mayra Valdivia told Gagliardi after the May 3 home game in Santa Clara.
