The organizing committee for the NCAA Men’s College Cup is pulling out all the stops to make Santa Barbara college soccer paradise.
A Night in Soccer Heaven, a benefit dinner party on the eve of Sunday’s national championship game at UCSB’s Harder Stadium, will feature Hall of Famer and L.A. Galaxy coach and general manager Bruce Arena as the keynote speaker.
The event is at 5:30 at the Montecito Country Club. Individual tickets and group packages can be purchased by contacting Debbie Foley at [email protected] or 805 705-1752. The Soccer Heaven dinner benefits The Right to Dream Foundation, the Santa Barbara Soccer Club and the local AYSO region.
Arena is the most successful U.S. men’s soccer coach in history. He guided the U.S. National Team to back-to-back World Cups in 2002 and 2006, advancing to the quarterfinals in 2002, the country’s best finish in 72 years. He won five national championships, including four straight (1991-94) at the University of Virginia; he coached DC United to the first three Major League Soccer Cup finals, winning consecutive championships in 1996-97, and he took the L.A. Galaxy to the cup final in 2009.
Earlier this year, Arena was inducted in the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
“Bruce Arena’s passion for the game, ability to build exceptionally competitive teams at the collegiate and the professional level and his outstanding work with the U.S. men’s national team are well-known and highly regarded by his colleagues and opponents,” Hall of Fame President Jonathan Ullman said in a statement. “His tremendous record of service in soccer and success in the game has earned him election.”
“Having arguably the most accomplished soccer coach in America taking part in this huge weekend of soccer in Santa Barbara is a huge statement on coach Arena’s part, and one that speaks to how much he cares about the sport in this country,” UCSB deputy athletic director Tom Hastings said.
Several collegiate coaches, coaches from MLS teams and former UCSB players are expected to attend the dinner.
