This past Wednesday night saw the official drafting of The Association, our soccer league in partnership with adidas, that brings together teams led by a roster of our favorite brands and influencers, all of which duke it out on the pitch for fame and glory, and a dope AF trophy designed by the Los Angeles mural legend OG Slick.
We hosted the drafting party at The Association bar – naturally – in downtown LA, with free-flowing booze, street tacos, music spun by DJ Episode, and good banter all around. In addition to the brand reps from all participating teams and the to-be-drafted influencers, the turn out for the event exceeded our expectations, with Kicks to the Pitch‘s friends and family all under one roof getting steadily drunk.
Once everyone was in and loose, the drafting commenced, with each brand all taking turns picking two influencers to join their team. The order was randomly picked with the help of a comically small Bingo-styled ball cage, with the first round of picks to be followed by a second round in the opposite order. There were eight teams in total, with a total pool of 16 influencers that included ex-pro soccer, Olympic medalists, players, models, photographers, TV hosts, Radio networks and fitness gurus.
After an excited two rounds of picks, we’ve landed with the following teams:
FourTwoFour On Fairfax‘s “Golden State”
– Jared Martinez, photographer
– Umar Issa, photographer & podcast host
Complex‘s “Marauders”
– Chris Baris, ex-pro soccer player, model & actor
– Denise Jones, on-air personality & co-founder of All Def Music, TYT Sports
Dash Radio‘s “Real Radio FC”
– Dominic Chambrone aka The Shoe Surgeon, custom sneaker creator & designer
– Jacques Slade, host & video creator
Red Bull‘s “Red Bull Los Angeles”
– Geoff Gouveia, visual artist
– Karen Civil, author, philanthropist, brand curator & runs “Tru Women”
Beats by Dre‘s “The Defiant Ones FC”
– Hope Watson, actor & model
– Simonez Wolf, stylist
SpaceX‘s “Dragon FC”
– Lauren Sesselmann, ex-pro soccer player, Olympic Bronze Medalist, Pan Am Gold Medalist & World Cup athlete
– John Pangilinan, photographer & co-founder of OG Moto Show
Niky’s Sport‘s “Niky’s FC”
– Shawna Gordon, ex-pro soccer player turned skills trainer and developer
– Silas Lee, photographer and Team Cozy co-founder
Jason Markk‘s “Markkers FC”
– Tamra Dae, personal fitness expert, model and entrepreneur
– Terry Guy, creator/founder of Monorex, Star Los Angeles & Secret Walls
Check out our official photo recap taken by The Association’s official photographer Willie Toledo throughout, then be sure to check back in for more upcoming news on The Association!
