It's 9:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning and most of Santa Ana is still in bed. Shops are closed, streets are empty, and almost everywhere is quiet. Everywhere except the Santa Ana Bowl, where several hundred Chivas USA fans have gathered to watch the team practice and to meet the players afterwards.
Chivas USA's "Practice in the Community" series takes the team to a local destination once a month for a training session and a chance for fans to get autographs and pictures with the Red-and-White.
"The importance is connecting with the fans," said Chivas USA president and CEO Shawn Hunter. "It allows us to get out into the community and provide some inspiration for the kids."
Santa Ana is about 25 miles east of Chivas USA's home stadium, The Home Depot Center, in Carson, and is a bustling soccer community.
"We have developed a great relationship with the Santa Ana Soccer Association and the Santa Ana Youth Soccer United," said Hunter, "which includes both kids and adults. I think, combined, there are close to 23,000 players."
The series is designed to give fans a chance to see what a typical practice session for Chivas USA looks like.
"On a day like this, it's not necessarily about practicing really hard," said Jonathan Bornstein. "It's more about showing the fans what you do on a daily basis and having a good time with it."
Having had a tough match against the Houston Dynamo on Friday evening, the Red-and-White used Sunday morning's practice as a regenerative session, playing a few short-sided games and working on fitness.
"It's really important for us that Chivas USA comes out into our community," said Lionel Perez, president of the Santa Ana Soccer Association. "We're hoping to have the team come back a few more times this season so we can bring some different kids."
Part of the session was a skills camp for local kids put on by some of the Chivas USA youth academy coaches.
"I told the kids, when we started practice, that somebody here is going to be on our roster some day," said Hunter. "That's pretty exciting."
Hunter isn't far off. Chivas USA have a few players who call the Los Angeles area home. Gerson Mayen, Jorge Flores, Sacha Kljestan and Bornstein all played youth soccer in southern California growing up.
"Some of our younger guys grew up right around here," said Bornstein. "A lot of the fans enjoy having us out because we're from here and they can associate with us.
"They have a good time with it and so do we."
Jeffrey King is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
