Real Salt Lake To Celebrate Juneteenth With Specific Merchandise
Jun 18, 2022, 2:59 PM | Updated: 3:00 pm
A general view of Rio Tinto Stadium ahead of the pre-season friendly match between Real Salt Lake and Manchester United at Rio Tinto Stadium on July 17, 2017 in Sandy, Utah. (Photo by John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
(Photo by John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
SANDY, Utah – Real Salt Lake will commemorate Juneteenth as the club will take on the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Ahead of the match at Rio Tinto Stadium for Real Salt Lake against San Jose, they will have specifically designed scarves and game-worn jerseys that will go to the Utah-based “Project Success Coalition,” which sponsors the Juneteenth Festival in Ogden. The Juneteenth Festival is the largest African-American event in the state of Utah for over 30 years.
Other community groups, including African Stars and Millcreek Promise Program will also attend the RSL match on Saturday.
“The importance of Juneteenth was overlooked for far too long, and Real Salt Lake is proud to celebrate it during our game against San Jose,” said Real Salt Lake President John Kimball. “Juneteenth is a major milestone in America’s journey to equality and treating everyone with dignity and respect, which is an attitude we strive to live by at RSL.”
The RSL Team Store designed 150 specialty scarves for Saturday’s match, where they drew inspiration from the Unity jerseys that Major League Soccer and Adidas created. Proceeds from the sale of every scarf will go to Project Success Coalition.
Brush up on our history with the Quakes.#RSLvSJ | #RSL
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) June 18, 2022
Also, the game-worn jerseys that are designed for this game will be auctioned by Major League Soccer, with proceeds going to Project Success Coalition.
Project Success Coalition was founded in 1989 and has provided after-school and academic programs, health education and cultural arts programs to the people in the state of Utah.
“Our cultural arts programs have been established to educate and celebrate the rich African and African American contributions to our state, nation and the world,” said Project Success Coalition Co-Founder/Director Betty Sawyer. “Blacks have been part of defining Utah history and culture prior to the Mormon settlement.”
Coming to the stadium tomorrow? Read up on how we are celebrating #Juneteenth ⬇️
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) June 17, 2022
Additionally, Real Salt Lake officials and Leo The Lion will take part in the Juneteenth celebrations in Ogden and Millcreek on Sunday, June 19. They will attend the Utah Juneteenth Festival Celebration in Ogden before going to Millcreek for the Juneteenth Soul Skate Celebration.
“Real Salt Lake is excited to support and celebrate such an important holiday,” said Kimball. “Project Success Coalition has been hosting Juneteenth events long before many people knew what the holiday was all about. These events are a great acknowledgement of the amazing contributions African Americans have made throughout our state and the country.”
The RSL match against San Jose will begin at 7:30 PM MT on KSLSports.com, the KSL TV app and the KSL Sports app.
