SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento Republic FC opened its season Saturday night with its seventh consecutive opening-night sellout, drawing more than 11,500 fans to Heart Health Park as families from across the region packed the stands.
Hundreds of fans swarmed the stadium for the club’s opening match, marking the return of a tradition many local families say they look forward to every year.
“I’ve always been to these games, and I never miss one,” said young fan Damian Padilla.
For some fans, attending Republic FC games has become a family gathering that stretches across generations.
“We’ve got wives here, we got cousins, the whole family, nieces, brother-in-law. Yeah, it’s a family event,” said Jose Maldonado, who traveled from Lincoln with relatives.
Fans came from communities around the region, including Lincoln and Lodi, contributing to the crowd of more than 11,500.
Kandy Soto, a mother of two from Lodi, said her father has been buying tickets for the family since the club began playing in 2014. With several new players on this year’s roster, she said she hopes the team can live up to the legacy of past fan favorites.
“I’m just expecting a good season and for them to give it their all. I mean, I’ve been since Clementa, since Henry, since a lot of the players, so I’m really hoping to get that vibe back again,” Soto said.
Soto said she hopes her daughters will take an interest in soccer as they get older, similar to local youth players who were watching the match from the stands.
Some of those young fans said watching professionals play motivates them to keep working toward their own goals.
“It’s inspiring,” said Rekik Dawit.
“Yeah, I look up to them a lot. It’s really cool,” said Inleli Ayanou. “Because they’re advanced. I wanna be like them when I get older, and I wanna do MLS.”
“Yeah, I feel like it’s really cool seeing how like how far they’ve came so far,” said Memen Dawit.
Even with some fans keeping an eye on players from the opposing team, most said they still want to see Sacramento come out on top.
“We came to see Geo from Tulsa,” Maldonado said.
“I hope Sac kicks, you know, kicks some butt, even though we’re, we’re, rooting for another guy, but, we love it,” Maldonado added. “Soccer, soccer, we’ve all played soccer. We got a bunch of kids that played soccer.”
Sacramento Republic FC’s next game will be on the road against Lexington SC next Saturday. The team will return home March 18 for its next match at Heart Health Park.
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