WATCH 5 CREATIVES UNITE UNDER THEIR LOVE FOR SOCCER

Soccer, football, the beautiful game – whatever you want to call it – yet again unites those with a passion towards the sport outside of the game itself. Creators of the Game is an ongoing mini-series presented by Red Bull that sees soccer bringing together five different artists, each with their own unique background and style. Featured in the above episode is LA-based artist Joshua Vides, top U.S. soccer freestyler Indi Cowie, Miami hip-hop artist Twelve’len, street photographer Jenny Abrams, and street artist ABSTRK, all of which share in-depth their own personal stories and experience surrounding the game. Hit play to watch the seven and a half minute-long video, then be sure to keep tabs on the channel for more episodes to come.

WHAT WENT DOWN AT THE ASSOCIATION DRAFT PARTY

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!

NEYMAR UNVEILS USA PLANS FOR 2ND GLOBAL TOURNEY

Back in 2016 Neymar joined forces with Red Bull to put on the world’s biggest five-a-side tournament ever seen. Featuring 10,000 teams with 65,000 players in 47 countries, on 6 continents…the tourney was a massive success. The games were feverishly fast fast-paced thanks to the unique rules which included a 10 minute time limit and the loss of a player each time a team was scored on. This was all inspired by the style of street footy the Barcelona Starlet grew up playing in his native land.

Now onto 2017 where Neymar and Red Bull have announced the 2nd edition of the tournament this time with more regional qualifiers plus a more open player pool. In the USA, the road to the finals travels through 16 qualifiers in 10 states, kicking off March 25 in Tampa, Fla. and Dallas, TX. From there, qualifiers continue on through California, Arizona, Florida, Texas, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Kansas, Ohio and Colorado. The top two teams from each qualifier then travel to the US finals in Miami in June.

If you’re wondering why the American qualifying process is so rigorous it’s beacause Neymar has long spoken highly of America and even playing footy state side: “Long term, if I could choose any other country to play in it would be the United States. The culture in the US is incredible, and that really attracts me – as do the amazing cities. It would be a great place to play one day.”

For more details on Neyamr Jr’s Five including registrion for regional qualifiers check out: neymarjrsfive.com