Monterey Bay Football Club Celebrates Juneteenth, Partners with BackYardFooty for Launch of Charitable & Educational Merchandise Collection
Monterey Bay Football Club is joining team captain Hugh Roberts’ BackYardFooty in celebrating Juneteenth and supporting the local community through a new merchandise collection that embodies the history of the holiday. 100% of the proceeds from this special-edition Juneteenth collection will be donated to both the Monterey County Black Caucus and the United Black Players of the United Soccer League, with majority going to the former.
The MBFC x BackYardFooty special-edition Juneteenth collection includes a long sleeve t-shirt, a hat, socks, a drawstring bag, a bag tag and a sticker, with each item available online now at MBFCShop.com. In addition, with every purchase from this collection, fans will receive a QR code that directs them to a webpage with more information about the donee, the Monterey County Black Caucus, as well as educational information about the holiday of Juneteenth itself.
“In every little way, we wanted to make sure that the majority of the donations were staying local to help our community here grow,” explained Roberts, MBFC defender and Co-Founder of the United Black Players of the USL. “I commend the Club a lot for doing this for the local community, especially the local Black community. It means a lot to me because not only are we representing the culture with this collection, but we are also helping to educate the community about this historic day, about this important moment in time.”
Juneteenth is celebration of freedom that commemorates the effective end of slavery in the United States of America. It marks the day in 1865 that federal soldiers freed the last remaining slaves in Galveston, Texas, nearly thirty months after the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed. Now, the holiday serves as a day to look back at the progress that’s been made and consider all of the ways we can continue to move forward.
Monterey Bay F.C. encourages fans to learn more about Juneteenth and the Club’s special Juneteenth partnership with Roberts’ BackYardFooty by visiting BackYardFooty.org/byfjuneteenth. Learn more about BackYardFooty itself by following @BackYardFootyy on Instagram and @BackYardFooty on Twitter.
“It’s very important to me for the fans to get behind us here at the Club and help us galvanize the community on and about a day like today,” Roberts continued. “Obviously, today is an important day in history, but this can also be an everyday thing too. You can support your local Black businesses on any day at any time, so it’s educational for the community to understand which businesses are around them, build a little bit of a connection there and then start spreading the word. In a lot of ways, this is a stepping stone to a greater avenue of community growth.”
The MBFC x BackYardFooty Juneteenth collection will be available for purchase in person at all MBFC Team Shop locations when gates open prior to Saturday’s home match against Miami FC on June 24. Tickets to the match are available now, visit www.MontereyBayFC.com for more information. Learn more about Monterey Bay F.C. by following @MontereyBayFC on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, as well as online at MontereyBayFC.com.
