We will be heading down to Home Depot center to cover the Celebrity Soccer Challenge hosted by Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra. It should be a great day filled with soccer, celebrities, and raising money. We will be interviewing the participants and hopefully getting some time with Mia. All of the information you need is listed below.

MIA HAMM & NOMAR GARCIAPARRA TO HOST 3^rd ANNUAL CELEBRITY SOCCER CHALLENGE AT HOME DEPOT CENTER

Benefiting Bone Marrow Transplant Patients and Families at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles;

Mia to Appear and Give-Away Tickets at Sport Chalet in Torrance this Sunday, January 10th

LOS ANGELES (Tuesday, January 5, 2010) – U.S. Soccer icon Mia Hamm and her husband, former-Red Sox and Dodger great Nomar Garciaparra will host the 3rd Annual Mia Hamm & Nomar Garciaparra Celebrity Soccer Challenge, a charity soccer match benefiting Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and the Mia Hamm Foundation, held on Saturday, January 16, 2010. Kick-off is at 3 PM PST at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA.

The hosts and current and former members of the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Soccer teams will be joined this year by: Donald Faison of Scrubs, Jordan Farmar of the Los Angeles Lakers, US Olympic Beach Volleyball Gold Medalist Kerri Walsh, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, Clark Gregg of Iron Man and The New Adventures of Old Christine, Adrian R’Mante from Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and others. Soccer greats scheduled to appear include: Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy, Kristine Lilly, Cobi Jones, and more.

Fans are encouraged to join Mia for a special appearance with a ticket give-away and autographs this Sunday, January 10^th from 1:00-2:00PM at Sport Chalet located at: 21305 Hawthorne Boulevard in Torrance, CA in the Del Amo Village. There will be one ticket given to each of the first 100 people in line. Tickets will also be available for purchase at the store all day Saturday and Sunday.

At halftime, patients who were suffering from leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening diseases will be introduced in person for the very first time to their bone marrow donors. The donor and recipient meetings will recognize all those who have given hope to patients in need of a life-saving transplant by joining the National Marrow Donor Program Registry. Fans in attendance will be given the opportunity to register and become donors themselves at the City of Hope Bone Marrow Registry on the concourse.

General admission tickets for the Celebrity Soccer Challenge are $20 and are on sale now through Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com or 1.800.745.3000), or directly through the Home Depot Center Box Office. Group ticket sales in excess of 50 or more are discounted at $15 a ticket. For more information, visit www.miafoundation.org/soccerchallenge. All proceeds will benefit bone marrow patient and family services at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

With the help of partners including NIKE, Gatorade, Wasserman Media Group, Athletes’ Performance, MISSION Product, and others more than $250,000 has been raised since its inception. This year several other partners are stepping up to join Mia, Nomar and friends including Dannon, FC Barcelona, Wahoo’s, OCFamily.com, Intel, Sport Chalet, and more.

“This event is a great atmosphere for fans of soccer, sports, celebrities, and music. It’s great to see our community come together to help raise funds and awareness for Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and The Mia Hamm Foundation,” said Mia Hamm.  “It is more important than ever to bring our diverse community together to ensure people in need are given the best chance at a donor match.  We hope to increase the number of registrants this year and find another successful match.”

About the Mia Hamm Foundation

The Mia Hamm Foundation is a non-profit organization built upon a dual mission: 1) to raise funds and awareness for bone marrow transplant patients and their families; and 2) to promote and help develop more opportunities for young women in sports.

In recent years, the Mia Hamm Foundation has organized the Garrett Game, a soccer exhibition game named after Mia’s late brother, Garrett, who died in 1997 from a bone marrow disease. Donations from the Celebrity Soccer Challenge will benefit bone marrow transplant patients and their families. All proceeds from the event will benefit funds set up at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. For more information, please visit: www.miafoundation.org.

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