By  Irvine City News staff ​

The 2018 season for Irvine’s own Orange County Soccer Club opens March 17 at the Great Park Championship Stadium with a match against the Phoenix Rising Football Club. The season runs through the summer, providing local youth and adult fans plenty of opportunities to enjoy a day at the beautiful soccer stadium.  

The Orange County SC is part of the United Soccer League (USL), the fastest-growing Division II professional soccer league in the world. Comprised of 34 teams across the country, the teams are affiliates of Major League Soccer teams. Orange County SC is the official affiliate partner of the new Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC).  
Southern California’s other MLS team, the L.A. Galaxy, was at the Great Park Championship Stadium in February for an exhibition match against the San Jose Earthquakes. The stadium was packed with fans of the Galaxy sporting David Beckham and Landon Donovan jerseys from the team’s glory days, as well as a strong turnout of local youth players, including many kids from the LA Galaxy soccer leagues. Some 5,015 attended the preseason exhibition, setting a new attendance record for the Championship Stadium.  

The Earthquakes scored three second-half goals to defeat the Galaxy 4-2, much to the delight of the team’s vocal supporters, who sang songs and beat drums throughout the match.  

There were food trucks, beer stands, music and activities for all ages at the festive event on a sunny Saturday afternoon that showed how well-used and loved the Great Park Sports Park already is, and a preview of what’s ahead as more soccer, baseball, softball, hockey and skating venues are yet to come.  
 
Adidas and LA Galaxy Orange County are presenting the OC College Showcase at the Great Park on March 10-11 and March 17-18. The event draws top teams and clubs and features full-length matches, providing male and female high school athletes ages 15-19 the opportunity to show their skills in front of top college coaches. Other top tournaments drawing players and their families to Irvine and the Great Park Sports Park include the OC Summer Invitational in August and the OC Tournament of Champions in early December.

ocshowcase.com ​

By Irvine City News staff ​

Under a bright blue Irvine sky, hundreds of high school football players in late February attended The California Showcase, an annual event founded by former UCLA Head Football Coach Terry Donahue and his brother, Patrick. The event, held once again at the Orange County Great Park, allows football players – many whom may have been previously overlooked by recruiters – a chance to be seen by college coaches from more than 50 colleges and universities. The size and proximity of the Great Park sports fields make it the ideal venue for such an event, said Coach Donahue. 

According to Donahue, more than 50 percent of players attending the showcase were in need of some form of financial aid in order to attend college. Over the years, the showcase has resulted in millions of dollars in tuition aid for athletes offered by colleges attending. 
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“This is their last chance,” Donahue said, “to be awarded financial aid…It was very cool to see them get a shot.” ​

By Irvine City News staff ​

Irvine-based figure skater Nathan Chen looks to be a star of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea opening Feb. 9. Chen landed five quadruple jumps and won the United States Figure Skating Championships in January, receiving three perfect marks of 10 for performance and musical interpretation.  
Experts credit Chen with revolutionizing figure skating with his athleticism and jumping ability. He was the first skater to hit seven quadruple jumps in a single competition, and is the only man in the world to receive credit for landing five different types of quadruple jumps in international competition. 

Chen entered the 2018 U.S. Championships as the only undefeated male skater in the 2017-18 season, winning two Grand Prix Series titles and the Grand Prix Final.  

Chen trains in Lakewood, CA at the RINKS, one of eight SoCal skating facilities operated by the Anaheim Ducks. His coach is Rafael Arutyunyan, who has a coaching residency at the RINKS leading into the Olympic Winter Games. Along with Chen, his student Adam Rippon made the U.S. Olympic Team, and students Ashley Wagner and Mariah Bell were named as alternates. 

Irvine’s winter sports profile will likely grow in coming Olympic games, especially with the 270,000-square-foot Great Park Ice Complex opening later this year at the Great Park. The state-of-the-sport Anaheim Ducks ice complex and practice facility will include four sheets of ice, one of which will seat 2,500 spectators. Three sheets will be NHL-size, while the fourth will be Olympic-size. It will be one of the largest ice facilities of its kind in the country. 

The ice complex will likely become a destination for SoCal high school hockey leagues to host tournaments, and will also be home to public recreational skating, competitive and recreational figure skating, curling, broomball and community events. There will also be a part-time training center, concessions, locker rooms and shops selling skating gear. 

Would the Ducks/RINKS organization encourage top coaches like Arutyunyan to move training operations to Irvine? Time will tell, but don’t be surprised if the future sees many more Olympians, summer and winter, from our city.  
 
 
 
Irvine has produced some 30 Olympians over the years,  
and UCI claims 53 Olympians and Paralympians 
 
The 2016 Summer Olympics team included UCI Men’s Volleyball All-American and national champion David Smith, who helped the U.S. Indoor Men’s Volleyball team take the bronze medal; tennis player Eva Lee; former UCI All-American Charles Jock; and Kevin Tillie, also a volleyball national champion at UCI, who competed for France. 

Natasha Watley (left) is one of the top Irvine athletes of all time. Born in Irvine in 1981, Watley was a star softball player at Woodbridge High School and a four-time All American at UCLA. She won a gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics as part of the U.S. team, and a silver medal in Beijing in 2008.  
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After the 2012 Olympics, the Irvine City Council honored silver medal-winning swimmer Jason Lezak, the Irvine High School graduate and city resident who also won four gold medals at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics. Lezak is one of the illustrious Olympians from the Irvine Novaquatics team that has included Amanda Beard and Aaron Piersol.  
 ​

By Irvine City News staff

One of the consequences of going from zero to two professional football teams in the Los Angeles/Orange County television market is that it complicates trying to watch games on TV. For decades, fans of the NFL in the area didn’t have to worry much about the vagaries of the blackout rules, as we could usually depend on getting the best “game of the week” national matchups the networks were televising.  

Now, with the Chargers and the Rams in town, the network schedule is decidedly more complicated. That’s because by NFL rule no game can air opposite a local franchise’s broadcast, and the local team’s game is blacked out if the game isn’t a sell-out at the stadium. 

Whether the stay-at-home fan has cable or satellite, has cut the cord and relies on streaming services and mobile devices, or buys into the Sunday Ticket, Red Zone and other premium packages, there will be a “where’s the game?” moment of panic during the season. 

Luckily, joining friends and fans at Irvine restaurants, bars and entertainment venues that offer NFL games all day Sunday, plus Thursday and Monday nights, can assuage that pain. As can the adult beverages served at the following football hotspots. 
 
Hotel Irvine  
The big lobby bar area offers a giant screen that shows a collage of the best of NFL Sunday football, perfect for those with short attention spans or trying to track their fantasy football roster. The massive 10-foot TV in the Red Bar comes with split-screen technology – where fans can watch up to six games at once, plus track the scoring action on NFL Red Zone. There’s also all-you-can-eat wings for $10, $4 bottled beers, $8 bottomless Mimosas and a build-your-own Bloody Mary bar. 
hotelirvine.com 
 
Buffalo Wild Wings 
The chicken wing emporium is tucked into the corner of the Heritage Plaza Center at Culver Drive and the 5, and offers what pretty much every other BWW in the nation does: TVs, and lots of them, wings as spicy as you’d like and plenty of cold beer to wash it all down. Our only criticism of the quintessential experience is that the technology isn’t exactly on point: some of the TVs are projection types, meaning the picture isn’t as crisp as the wings.  
 
Lamppost Pizza 
If we’re going to watch a game at the shopping center off of Culver, it’s much more likely you’ll see us at the pizza parlor owned by the Barros family than at the giant B-dub chain. They’ve been at that location for more than 40 years, offering a top venue for sports fans, pizza lovers and youth sports teams. Order a beer from Backstreet Brewery, and cheer on your favorite team.  
lamppost-backstreet.com 
 
First Class Pizza 
The Woodbury Town Center spot usually opens at 11 a.m., but on Sundays during the NFL season you can arrive at 9:30 a.m. to claim a favorite table. There are craft beer specials at $3 a pint and $12 a pitcher (the Irvine location has one of the best beer selections in town), and the pizza of the month is always worth a try while watching your favorite team. Plus, we love that this First Class hires high school kids to serve and cook, just like the local pizzeria where we grew up.  
firstclasspizzawoodbury.com 
 
Yard House 
The sports bar chain is the 800-pound gorilla when it comes to Spectrum locations to catch a game. With televisions at every angle, it’s usually easy to pick a spot to watch your favorite team. With hundreds of beers on tap, you can choose from among all the trendy seasonal types from the restaurant’s Chalkboard Series (Greenflash Spanish Trampoline, say, or Firestone Luponic Distortion), or go for an old-school big brand.  
yardhouse.com  
 
Dave and Buster’s 
If you’ve got gamers in your group, or kids who don’t share your love of football, the Spectrum’s Dave and Buster’s can be a good choice to keep everyone happy and occupied while you watch the game. There are giant screen HDTVs, and during the game you can order $5 appetizers, or go for a combo of all you can eat wings and a $10 game card for just $19.99 per person. 
daveandbusters.com 
 
Eureka! 
Mega-venues not for you? The cool UCI-adjacent Eureka! opens at 10 a.m. on Sundays during the season. The food is more innovative than at most of the big box sports and wings bars, while the drink menu offers craft beers, small-batch whiskeys and $5 Mimosas and Bloody Marys. Or try the green-tinted tequila and tomatillo cocktail called “Do You Even Juice, Bro?”  
eurekarestaurantgroup.com  
 
The Irv at Whole Foods 
Though the restaurant and bar at the Los Olivos Whole Foods only offers the main broadcast games, the healthy food available on the menu or in the market make it a top choice for many. While Amazon ownership has brought down prices on produce in the store, we haven’t seen a carry-over to the bar. But that’s OK, because there are brunch specials, craft beers and of course there’s the green Bloody Mary with the evocative name: Chupracabra Tears. 
 
Ride the Rams Train 
For those going to a Rams home game live and in person at the L.A. Coliseum, consider skipping the traffic and $50 parking spots by taking the train from Irvine Station. Roundtrips are $10, and include the trip to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, the subway ride a couple of stops to Seventh and Metro station, where you catch the Expo Light Rail line that stops right across from the stadium. There’s also an option to go catch a Chargers game at StubHub Center, but from Irvine it’s easier to drive than to take the Blue Line across town from Union Station. And the StubHub route involves a shuttle, and we don’t do shuttles.  

For more information about the Metrolink’s special service to pro football games, go to metrolinktrains.com/football. ​

By Irvine City News staff

By Irvine City News staff

By Irvine City News staff

UCI likely lost two of the best baseball players in Orange County to Major League Baseball in the recent MLB draft, one current player and one top high school prospect that had committed to the school.

The Minnesota Twins selected Royce Lewis, a shortstop from JSerra High School in San Juan Capistrano first in the Major League Baseball Draft in June. The phenom had signed to play college baseball at UCI, but he has signed a contract for nearly $7 million to play for the Twins, so don’t expect to see Lewis at Cicerone Field next season.

Lewis, widely regarded as the best baseball player in Southern California, is the first Orange County high school player ever selected No. 1 in the baseball draft, according to OC Varsity. OC’s Phil Nevin, who was the first overall pick in 1992, was at Cal State Fullerton at the time he was drafted.

Lewis and his family live in Aliso Viejo. His dad William Lewis is know to OC foodies as the long time wine expert and partner at The Winery in Newport Beach and Tustin.

Had Lewis gone on to attend UCI, he would have joined second baseman Keston Hiura on the team next spring. That is if Hiura was still on the team himself. The 2017 Big West Conference Player of the Year was himself selected No. 9 in the MLB draft by the Milwaukee Brewers, the highest draft pick in UCI history.

“He is the best college hitter in the country,” said Wynn Pelzer, the Brewers’ scout for Southern California. Hiura won college baseball’s NCAA Division I batting title with a .442 average for UCI this past season. The All-American was the team’s designated hitter after suffering an elbow injury last September.
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“I really do believe that he is a major leaguer and I think he’s a major leaguer for a long time,” UCI Coach Mike Gillespie said in the Daily Pilot. Gillespie should know, having coached some 100 players in his career who would go on to play in the majors. Now Gillespie has to go out and find some more to replace these two OC major league prospects. A third OC player joined Lewis and Hiura as first-round selections: Nick Pratto of Huntington Beach High School, who was selected No. 14 by the Kansas City Royals.
 

​By Irvine City News staff

May is Junior Games month in Irvine, as the community comes out to raise funds for scholarships to help hard-working families afford before- and after-school child care programs in the Irvine Unified School District.

This year’s 30th annual Irvine Junior Games are on May 7 at Irvine Stadium. The event draws some 1,500 Irvine fourth through eighth grade athletes who run, jump, throw and shoot baskets. The competition includes track events such as 50 and 100 meter sprints; 400, 800 and 1500 meter long distance runs; and school relays. The opening ceremony features a parade of all the athletes marching with their schools, and includes the national anthem and the lighting of the Irvine Junior Games flame.

The student athletes who compete in Irvine Junior Games come from 31 IUSD elementary and middle schools. The event draws 3,000 spectators and depends on the generosity of 300 volunteers and numerous sponsors, including Hoag, the 2017 presenting sponsor.

The Junior Games are put on by and support the Irvine Children’s Fund (ICF). The goal of the ICF and the Junior Games is to make it possible for local low-income working families to have access to child care programs at all 25 elementary schools in Irvine.

The mission of nonprofit ICF is to raise funds to provide scholarships to low-income working families for before and after school child care, to expand and maintain childcare facilities, and to support child wellness services on the Irvine Unified School District elementary school sites. ICF accomplishes this primarily through grants and the Irvine Junior Games.

The Junior Games are for a great cause, but they’re also a lot of fun for the kids who compete and the spectators. There is serious competition, with bragging rights for individual schools, too.

Medal winners and record holders from past Junior Games are listed on the Irvine Children’s Fund website. There are future Orange County track stars among the record holders, including Jake Ogden, who ran a 4.15.96 in the 1500 meters as an 8th grader in 2012. Michelle Sanford, who still holds the girls Junior Games record for the 100 meters, ran the race in a time of 13.19 back in 1999 when she was an 8th grader. Ogden currently runs track and cross country at Furman University, while Sanford had an excellent collegiate career at USC. Prior to that, she won three state track championships in the triple jump and long jump while at Woodbridge High School, where she was called the best jumper in the nation.

To see future track stars and kids having fun, come out to the Irvine Junior Games and support education and children in your community.
 
Irvine Junior Games
May 6, 10 a.m. -3 p.m.
Adults $10, Children $2
 
irvinejuniorgames.org
 

By Irvine City News staff

 
In the midst of a stormy week of wind and rain, a sunny Southern California day greeted some 300 civic, community and sports leaders gathered at the Orange County Great Park for the groundbreaking of what Mayor Donald P. Wagner predicted would become a “community icon” for Irvine.

The Great Park Ice Complex will have four sheets of ice for hockey, figure skating and public ice-skating in a beautifully designed, 280,000-square-foot, state-of-the-sport facility. Mayor Wagner, Mayor Pro Tem Lynn Schott, Councilwoman Christina Shea, Councilmember Melissa Fox and Councilmember Jeffrey Lalloway, and were joined by Anaheim Ducks owners and noted philanthropists Susan and Henry Samueli for what they called an “ice breaking.” Construction is now underway, with the ice facility set to open in 2018.
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The complex will be open to the public most of the time, providing a much-needed venue for a variety of ice sports and recreation such as youth and adult hockey programs, regional and national tournaments, figure skating, and open public skating. It will include three NHL-standard ice rinks and one Olympic-sized one, as well as a 2,500-seat arena. It will be the largest such ice complex in California and one of the largest in the U.S. The Anaheim Ducks will have a dedicated training area in the facility, and are expected to practice there on occasion.

The new ice complex at the Orange County Great Park will complement the 175-acre multi-sports parks, the first phase of which is set to debut next year, creating the premier recreational and competitive sports destination in Southern California.

The newly formed Irvine Ice Foundation will own the new Great Park Ice Complex, a nonprofit organization, which will be made up of locally, based civic leaders, and operate on a 50-year lease with the city. The $100 million plus facility will be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certified as part of the NHL Green initiative. All proceeds generated from the Great Park complex will go to further the growth of ice sports and activities locally.

Ducks’ owners Henry and Susan Samueli, whose Samueli Foundation will serve as the major contributor to the Irvine Ice Foundation with some $35 million dedicated to it, were among those who spoke to an audience of dignitaries and local residents at the event.

“There are very few rinks in South County, so we needed it here.” Susan Samueli said. Everybody was dreaming and having great vision of what we can do with hockey in Orange County. So we’re thrilled.”

“Building this from the ground up is a dream come true,” Henry Samueli said. “The Great Park worked out as a perfect partner for us because of the availability of the land and the openness of the city council to engage us in such a massive project. So we’re really thankful for them working so diligently with us to make this a reality.”

The facility will give the ever-growing Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League (now up to 48 teams after starting from zero when the Samuelis bought the Ducks) an appropriate location to host highly attended games as well as highly anticipated figure skating competitions and other events that require additional seating.

When the new Great Park Ice Complex opens, the Anaheim Ducks RINKS Program, which includes both ice and inline facilities (including one in Irvine), will have 11 sheets of ice for use. The organization’s Learn to Play programs are running over capacity with a six-month waiting list for all ice sessions. Additionally, with all four existing RINKS located in north Orange County, the Great Park RINKS location fills the need of a more convenient location for those who live in the southern part of the county.

“The obvious thing it does is grow capacity in Orange County,” Henry Samueli said. “All of our rinks are full from morning to night, so the ability to add four rinks is going to relieve some of the capacity, so we can get more kids, more high school teams, more adult leagues. It will grow the sport of hockey from top to bottom.”

“It’s a dream,” said Michael Schulman, the Ducks’ CEO and future managing director of the Great Park complex. “The city came together and agreed upon this, and allowing us to be their first private enterprise here is a big thing. This will be a place that people will look at as a model all over the world. I hope somebody this thing will be so full that we’ll need to do more.”

“This is a great day for the city,” said Irvine mayor Donald Wagner. “We’re going to have four sheets of ice, one of the largest facilities in the country, and we’re going to have the opportunity for our local kids to come play hockey, figure skate and train with the best. This is a first-class operation, a thoroughly professional operation, and it’s going to be a community icon. I’m excited.”

Irvine Public Schools Foundation in partnership with the Matt Leinart Flag Football League will host the 3rd annual Winter Bowl Flag Football Tournament on Saturday, January 28. The Winter Bowl is a school-based tournament, with teams comprised of players from individual schools in the city of Irvine, including boys and girls teams in grades three through eight.
In its third year, the Irvine-based Winter Bowl will serve as a fundraiser to benefit Irvine Public Schools Foundation (IPSF), a nonprofit organization focused on enriching the educational experience of each child in every school. The success of the event over the past two years’ events led IPSF to create a larger tournament called the Irvine Tournament of Champions, consisting of soccer, basketball, and flag football tournaments. Schools earn points for their performance in each tournament, and the school with the most points at the end of the year is awarded the Champions Cup to display at their school the following year.  

The event is a one-day tournament that will be held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Orange County Great Park.

​This shared passion for uniting the community through sports activities sparked a natural partnership between IPSF and the Matt Leinart organization. Former USC, Mater Dei quarterback Matt Leinart, who was recently elected to College Football Hall of Fame, founded the Matt Leinart Flag Football League in conjunction with the NFL Flag Football program, with the goal to provide a fun community league for kids to be involved in, while also developing football skills.