The countdown has begun for the FIFA World Cup coming to Silicon Valley next year.
Representatives from the Bay Area Host Committee and Santa Clara celebrated the one-year countdown to the World Cup Wednesday with speeches and a youth soccer clinic led by the San Jose Earthquakes. Levi’s Stadium will host six games in 2026, beginning June 13. City officials dedicated a plaque to commemorate the games and unveiled a one-year timer, which will be moved around the community and presented at various city events.
“Let’s make sure that when the world looks at Santa Clara, they’re not just seeing a host city, but a community that never stopped believing in its children’s future,” Mayor Lisa Gillmor said.
This plaque commemorates the six FIFA World Cup games set to be hosted at Levi’s Stadium in 2026. Photo by B. Sakura Cannestra.
About 160 children from Santa Clara youth sports groups participated in the soccer clinic after the commemoration ceremony, according to Bay Area Host Committee CEO Zaileen Janmohamed.
She said the host committee is working on events to include Santa Clara and Bay Area residents in the World Cup festivities, such as more clinics and watch parties. She said the World Cup has historically had seismic impacts on the nation’s soccer communities, as the 1994 World Cup helped create Major League Soccer.
“Today is a really good example of what you can expect,” Janmohamed told San José Spotlight. “We want to make sure that we have … a way for people in the community to feel like they’re part of the World Cup, even if they’re not coming to a game. That’s what you should start to see.”
Bay Area Host Committee CEO Zaileen Janmohamed said she’s excited to bring Bay Area communities together with the FIFA World Cup. Photo by B. Sakura Cannestra.
Santa Clara is gearing up for a busy 2026, as Levi’s Stadium will host Super Bowl 60 Feb. 8, only a few months before the World Cup matches in June, both facilitated by the Bay Area Host Committee. Preparations are underway for both events and Janmohamed said the largest lift — a roughly $25 million renovation of Levi’s Stadium’s field to fit FIFA requirements — is nearly complete.
“We’ve been in this planning phase, ‘what if we did it this way,’” Janmohamed said. “We’re moving from that ‘what if’ to a ‘let’s do this.’”
Santa Clara officials have been looking for ways to get residents involved and see more local economic benefits from these mega sporting events. When Santa Clara hosted Super Bowl 50 in 2016, the Bay Area collectively saw a $240 million boost, but only about 7% of that revenue went to Santa Clara.
Councilmember Karen Hardy said she wants to work with the host committee and FIFA to bring more benefits into the city. She suggested letting Santa Clara youths have a moment on the field during the games or letting residents purchase discounted tickets, but both are up in the air. The city is working on hosting a concert at Santa Clara University in the months between Super Bowl 60 and the World Cup games, to give residents more opportunities to celebrate.
“We’re working on getting that funding and doing that for the community … as a present to our residents,” Hardy told San José Spotlight.
Engaging the community will be key in this year’s run up to the events. Aly Wagner, founder of the local National Women’s Soccer League team Bay FC, said engaging with the larger soccer community as a youth during the 1994 World Cup inspired her to pursue the game. Wagner won two Olympic gold medals and two FIFA World Cup bronze medals during her 20 years playing internationally. Wagner said she hopes the upcoming World Cup games similarly inspire Silicon Valley’s youngest generations of soccer players. FIFA is expected to announce the World Cup’s group stage teams on Dec. 5, which includes all teams in the various groups and who will play at which stadiums. She said it’ll be easier to rally the community around the games once it’s known who will play at Levi’s Stadium.
“Touching it and feeling it and being a part of it is very different from watching it on a broadcast,” Wagner told San José Spotlight. “We’ve always been a hotbed for talent in soccer, now we have an opportunity to grow that because more people are going to be exposed and fall in love with this game.”
Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at [email protected] or @SakuCannestra on X.
Anna Lakin Guerry, 11, and her 9-year-old brother Joe sifted through wrapped gifts and cardboard suitcases Friday afternoon at Starkville Public Library, packing up more than just paper souvenirs. Inside each suitcase were crafts, activities and a passport to travel the world, no place ticket required.
The Guerrys were picking up their second “suitcase” as part of the Bulldog Explorers Program, a monthly initiative led by Mississippi State University professors Kelly Moser and Kenneth Anthony. Each box introduces children to a different country through hands-on crafts, basic foreign language lessons and cultural exploration.
This summer, Anna Lakin opened her first suitcase and embarked on a trip through Spain with basic vocabulary words, a food guide and materials to make Spanish clay dolls.
“I’ve only done one before,” she told The Dispatch on Friday, suitcase in hand. “There was a passport in there and a sheet that had different foods in that language. The activity … you were supposed to make this doll out of clay, but it was hard.”
Although the first suitcase proved to be a challenge for Anna Lakin, she said she was excited to try again this month.
A stack of cardboard suitcases is pictured atop a table Friday afternoon at Starkville Public Library. The suitcases are part of the Bulldog Explorers Program, an initiative to expose young learners to different cultures through hands-on crafts, basic foreign language lessons and cultural exploration. Cadence Harvey/Dispatch Staff
Since February, Moser, an associate professor of Spanish and World Language Teaching in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literature, and Anthony, department head for the Department of Teacher Education and Leadership, have delivered 50 suitcase boxes to the library on the last Friday of each month (or the next to last Friday this month, since the library will be closed the day after Christmas).
Past destinations have included Argentina, Spain, Uzbekistan and more, with each kit pulling together crafts, foundational geography, cultural lessons and foreign language exposure, often developed with help from MSU faculty and staff.
Moser said the idea grew out of noticing the popularity of subscription boxes like KiwiCo, intended to help kids learn about science, technology, engineering, arts and math.
Kelly Moser
“I didn’t see anything similar to what we’re doing with Bulldog Explorers, which is really our way to connect younger students to both the local community and the diversity that we see in the local community through languages and different cultures represented,” Moser told The Dispatch on Thursday. “… It’s not a typical subscription in the way that one family might be coming every single month. We’re trying to get as many people to have access as possible.”
The boxes are free and available on a first-come, first-served basis. While the program is designed for kindergarten through eighth grade, Moser said activities are especially well-suited for first- through fifth-graders.
To make lessons engaging, Moser and Anthony connect each country back to Mississippi, weaving in facts like how the state was once a French colony, or how both Mississippi and Uzbekistan share cotton as a cash crop, or even simply, what the distance is between Starkville and Rome, Italy.
A suitcase of adventure?
December’s suitcase revisited countries from previous months through the lens of winter holidays and celebrations around the world.
“The focus is going back to all the places we’ve been in the past and looking at how different cultures celebrate winter holidays,” Anthony told The Dispatch on Thursday. “One of the cool things about this one is oftentimes we think Christmas is celebrated the same way. … But they’re very culturally influenced.”
Kenneth Anthony
The box explores traditions like how in France, children leave shoes by the fireplace for Father Christmas to fill with treats, while in Italy, La Befana flies on a broomstick to deliver gifts or coal on Jan. 5th. It also explores how Hanukkah is celebrated throughout the world.
Nearly all the faces filtering through the library Friday afternoon were new to the program, though children’s coordinator Loraine Walker said repeat families are a familiar sight.
Loraine Walker
“Once people get started on this program, they’re hooked,” she told The Dispatch on Friday. “It’s wonderful. … I mean, it’s like a suitcase of adventure. All of our families, once they start coming, they keep coming. But we’re lucky. Word of mouth is getting around so we are getting new ones too.”
Anna Lakin’s mother, Josie Guerry, said they’ve visited several times since their first experience to find that the suitcases were already gone.
“They’re very popular,” she said. “… I just think it’s awesome that it’s something you can do easily, and it’s in a place that everybody can get to easily. (Anna Lakin) really did have fun with it.”
Interest has already spread beyond Starkville with some suitcases sent to families in Louisville, Hattiesburg, Columbus and Flowood. Moser and Anthony plan to increase deliveries to 75 suitcases each month in January.
“For us, the idea was something small, and we weren’t sure people would be interested in it,” Moser said. “So we were just pleasantly surprised that families were interested in something like this.”
Anthony said the response from families underscores the value of subjects often overlooked in school.
“We both care about subjects that are kind of marginalized in school curriculum,” Anthony said. “It is a nationwide thing, and it’s a generational thing. If you’re going to skip a class, it’s going to be social studies, and if you’re gonna drop something from a degree program at university, it’s going to be a foreign language.
“To me, this idea that people really are attracted to learning about foreign languages, other places and other cultures, yet they may not get it in the organized school curriculum and school setting, I think this indicates that there’s value in it,” he added. “That’s the big thing and it’s heartening to me, as a social studies guy, to (see) people actually care about their world.”
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Volleyball Camp and Girls Youth Basketball Leagues Starts Soon with JPRD | Raccoon Valley Radio – The One to Count On
The Jefferson Parks and Recreation Department has two youth sports programs starting soon.
According to JPRD Assistant Director Lyndsey Wathen, a Youth Volleyball Camp is happening this coming Monday and Tuesday for third-sixth graders. She states that the third and fourth grade session is from 10-11:15am and the fifth and sixth graders are from 11:15am-12:30pm, both taking place at the Greene County Community Center. Wathen points out that the camp is being led by the Greene County High School Volleyball Varsity Head Coach Chris Heisterkamp and Adrianna Vargas. The cost to participate is $10 for community center members and $15 for non-members.
Wathen notes the other program is a second through sixth grade Girls Basketball League that will be on Sundays in January from 1-2pm also at the community center. The cost to participate is $30, which includes a t-shirt and there is a discount rate of $10 for any girls that did the basketball camp this past October.
To sign up for either program, contact the community center at 515-386-2134 or click here.
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New 70-foot light poles stretch skyward from the perimeter of Keach Park as part of the long-awaited plan to illuminate one of Concord’s most popular athletic fields.
The work is a culmination of years of lobbying from the community organizing group Change for Concord, which implored the City Council to approve the project to support youth equity and access to outdoor recreation on the Heights.
Once complete, the Heights will have the only athletic field with lights in Concord besides the athletic complex at Memorial Field.
Despite the progress, the design is not what advocates had envisioned. These lights will cover a youth-sized field, which is smaller than a traditional soccer pitch.
“Our proposal that we submitted to the city council was acquiring the whole field to have lights,” said Fisto Ndayishimiye, one of the Change for Concord leaders. “The reason why we did that was to be more inclusive, to make sure that the field is utilized by many groups at different times.”
Parks & Recreation Director David Gill said that the area covered is enough for a seven-on-seven soccer match and will greatly expand the soccer clinics and pitch availability for general use.
The city held back on adding more lights to avoid affecting the nearby softball diamond, Gill said.
The existing plan, according to Gill, will not illuminate abutting houses much, won’t generate much light pollution and is also compliant with environmental regulations.
Installation began last month, with nighttime use ready to begin sometime between May and June of next year.
The new lights at Keach Park illuminate the youth-sized soccer field and will be operational sometime between May and June. Credit: ALEXANDER RAPP / Monitor
On Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the field will be available for rent for leagues and organized groups from dusk to 10 p.m. It will only be closed if the field is deemed unusable or unsafe due to heavy rain or other weather conditions, in which case the public will be notified through Parks & Recreation’s regular channels.
While the lights aren’t everything Ndayishimiye’s group hoped for, he was glad some progress was made after seven years of discussion.
“I really appreciate the leaders of the community, our city staff, for making this happen, even though it took a long time,” he said.
What started as a way to get free sports cleats and shoes to kids in need is becoming much more, especially for one Kewaunee family.
Announced earlier this month, Play 4 Owen, 23’s Cleats 4 Kidz and local artist Zane Statz are collaborating on a new scholarship and award called Laces 4 Life. The initiative will recognize student-athletes from Kewaunee, Algoma, Southern Door, Gibraltar and Sturgeon Bay who are excelling in the classroom and in the community.
The $2,300 scholarship and cleat award honors Owen Vaughn, who died by suicide in February. The three-sport athlete became a source of inspiration for the Kewaunee wrestling and baseball teams as they wrapped up the school year.
A few towns away, 11-year-old Bentley Gerczak has been busy running his organization that helps connect young families with the equipment they need to compete in youth sports. What started as giving back a pair of soccer shoes he had won has grown into donating more than 150 pairs of new shoes and hundreds of used pairs for redistribution.
Gerczak has expanded the mission beyond cleats, collecting shoeboxes filled with nonperishable food items for local pantries. His father, Jim, and Owen’s father, Chris Vaughn, are friends, leading Gerczak to look for ways he could help carry on Owen’s legacy.
That effort included donating the pair of spikes the baseball team brought with them on their run to the state championship. Gerczak didn’t want to stop there, helping organize the scholarship, which will be awarded annually at a special banquet. He hopes other kids will be inspired to find ways to give back and that community members will support them in doing so.
It has not been an easy year for the Vaughn family since losing Owen in February. Chris Vaughn said he is thankful for the community support that rallied around them in the months following, whether through hugs, meals dropped off on their porch or events organized in his son’s honor.
That support helped lead to the creation of Play 4 Owen, which is launching the Owen Vaughn Memorial Scholarship as part of Laces 4 Life while also promoting mental health awareness. Vaughn said the goal is to help ensure no other family goes through what they did and to carry on Owen’s memory.
The Laces 4 Life scholarship application, which includes a nomination from a coach, teacher or other member of a school’s faculty, is due April 15, 2026. More information can be found below.
The fan who was involved in the altercation with Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf will not be punished, the NFL said after upholding Metcalf’s suspension. Metcalf, who was suspended two games for the incident, argued the fan was out of line, yet the NFL said there were ‘no violations to the fan code of conduct’ from the fan.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said that he had a conversation with Metcalf, who explained why he did what he did. Beyond that, Tomlin would not elaborate, as he does not condone what Metcalf did, but still wants to support him.
n top of that, Tomlin hears that there could be potential legal ramifications stemming from that incident, so he did not want to speak upon the situation much.
“He did explain to me why he did what he did. I certainly don’t condone the behavior, but I support DK. I really don’t have a lot to add other than what I just told you. I think he has a hearing this afternoon, an appeals hearing, and I certainly don’t want to weigh in prior to that. I have heard more recently that there might be legal ramifications, but I’d better be careful of what I say and how I say it,” Tomlin said.
Metcalf told Chad Johnson that Ryan Kennedy, the fan who was struck, called him a racial slur and used unsavory language towards his mother. Kennedy, through his attorney, vehemently denied using that language, instead stating he called Metcalf by his full government name.
A video emerged on Tuesday that showed Kennedy saying ‘that was the goal, folks’ after he was shoved by Metcalf. Tomlin said the culture around sports of provoking people and using ‘volatile language’ is ‘unfortunate.’
“I just think volatile rhetoric is a component of our business, unfortunately,” Tomlin said. “It just is. But not only our business, but college and youth sport parents. It’s just a component of sport that’s just developed and developed in a big way in recent years and it’s unfortunate.”
Metcalf was suspended two games by the NFL and is now down for the rest of the regular season. Should the Ravens win against the Packers and the Steelers lose to the Browns, that means Metcalf would miss the pivotal win and in game in Week 18.
Wagner said she hopes the upcoming World Cup games similarly inspire Silicon Valley’s youngest generations of soccer players. FIFA is expected to announce the World Cup’s group stage teams on Dec. 5, which includes all teams in the various groups and who will play at which stadiums. She said it’ll be easier to rally the community around the games once it’s known who will play at Levi’s Stadium.
