Aug. 30, 2007
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s soccer team raised $6,300 for the Grassroot Soccer organization during its exhibition game versus Northwestern on Monday (Aug. 27). Fans entering Alumni Field were encouraged to donate to the foundation, which is an international AIDS awareness and education organization that reaches youth in Africa through soccer clinics.
A Notre Dame soccer alumnus, who wishes to remain anonymous, matched the amount dollar-for-dollar as did Irish head coach Bobby Clark and the Notre Dame men’s soccer camp.
This marked the fourth straight year that the Fighting Irish have played an exhibition match to benefit Grassroot Soccer. The organization’s founder is Tommy Clark, the oldest son of the Notre Dame head coach. The younger Clark began work on Grassroot Soccer while he was in medical school at Dartmouth College.
Monday night’s attendance was the third largest in program history and nearly topped the record of 3,502, which attended the 1994 match against SMU. The fans were treated to a solid 3-0 Fighting Irish victory over the Wildcats.
“We were thrilled with the money that was raised,” stated Bobby Clark. “In order to run any charity, you need to have money. The game was also important because it brought awareness to the terrible disease that affects people everywhere, but it seems that Africa has been hit particularly hard by it. Anything that brings awareness to the awful disease is a good thing and we were happy to help out.”
The ninth-ranked Fighting Irish will open the regular season against No. 1 UCLA on Friday (Aug. 31) at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington, Ind. Game time is set for 5:00 p.m. (ET). The Irish will battle No. 7 Maryland on Sunday (Sept. 2) at 11:30 a.m. during the second day of the tournament.
For more information on Grassroot Soccer, please log onto grassrootsoccer.org.
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