On Tuesday afternoon at The Home Depot Center, the LA Galaxy hosted 30 students from the LA chapter of the After School All-Stars, a state-funded program founded by then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2002.
The students, who were bussed from David Wark Griffith Middle School in East Los Angeles, spent three hours at the stadium learning about the business side of the club as well as the soccer side. LA Galaxy Vice President Chris Klein spoke with the kids for about 30 minutes about his career as a player as well as his current role with the club, answering a series of questions from the students. LA Galaxy Foundation Director Gloria King and AEG Sports Human Resources Manager Cassy Niehaus also spoke before the children. Then the group was treated to an hour-long soccer clinic that was led by Galaxy defenders Todd Dunivant and Sean Franklin.
The opportunity to host the students came through the Galaxy’s partnership with MetroPCS, which is a national partner of the After School All-Stars program. Across the country, millions of kids go unsupervised between the hours of 3-6 p.m. and statistics show these kids to be three times more likely to experiment with drugs, alcohol or other unsafe behaviors. ASAS aims to curb this trend by providing free, school-based, comprehensive after-school programs for at-risk youths.
