Union Omaha — an expansion team in the United Soccer League One — has yet to play its first match. Yet the club is already finding ways to embrace and support its local community throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
The team donated its jersey sponsorship for the 2020 season to local healthcare providers CHI Health and Nebraska Medicine.
Union Omaha will feature Nebraska Medicine on its white uniforms and CHI Health on its black uniforms. The kit sponsorship is worth $250,000, which will be funneled back into local healthcare rather than the club.
The club is also donating $10 to COVID-19 relief from the sale of each jersey, which became available last week.
We are PROUD to announce our 2020 inaugural season jersey partners: @CHIhealth and @NebraskaMed.
We're honored to wear these partners over our hearts, recognizing their heroic work in our community as they fight the impact of COVID-19.#BendTheCurve #VivaBúhos
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Union Omaha CEO Gary Green also delivered 45,000 masks to hospitals throughout Omaha.
“We want to be unique,” Green said in an interview with the Papillion Times. “We just felt like we wanted to do something that could help create a good feeling around what’s happening, maybe turn a negative into a positive.”
Union Omaha is one of many USL clubs that have found unique ways to provide support and relief to their local communities during the past two months.
Players from Tormenta FC can’t return to the pitch, so they’re studying a new skill — using a sewing machine to create masks for local hospitals.
Team owner Netra Van Tassel participates in a sewing circle through St. Matthew’s Catholic Church, which has been concentrating its efforts on creating masks for healthcare workers since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. She reached out to players on the team to see if any would be interested in joining, and three players — Parker Siegfried, Curtis Thorn and Sergio Gonzalez — volunteered to learn how to sew to help the sewing effort.
The trio struggled through an initial learning curve. Masks used in hospitals have to be made along specific guidelines, and Siegfried admitted he had to throw out every attempt from his first two days working on the sewing machine. But since they started, each player has been able to create dozens of masks to be donated, often in crazy patterns to add a little extra flair.
“The guys took right to it,” Van Tassell said. “I know they’re wanting to practice and play, but they’ve taken that energy and spirit and put it to great use.
Parker's already embraced our community and is sewing surgical masks to donate to local hospitals!
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Many clubs are using the sale of merchandise to raise funds for the local community. The Chattanooga Red Wolves are donating 100% of proceeds from merchandise sales to the local YMCA hunger relief program for children. Sacramento Republic FC has created a limited edition scarf, and the club will donate 100% of proceeds from the scarf’s sale to a local charity that provides meals for vulnerable seniors.
Other clubs are mobilizing their resources to provide for local needs. New Mexico United hosted a blood drive to replenish local blood banks while maintaining social distancing policies, and several players from the team donated blood. Members of the front office for the Colorado Springs Switchbacks packed food bags for local seniors at a community food bank in Colorado Springs.
“At its core, soccer is about community pride and representation,” USL vice president of communications Ryan Madden said. “So if there’s a silver lining in any of this, it’s been the smiles our clubs have brought to their neighbors’ faces, and the time and energy they’re putting in to helping their communities heal. It’s above and beyond what anyone could have expected.”
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