{"id":13605,"date":"2012-07-11T14:59:21","date_gmt":"2012-07-11T18:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=13605"},"modified":"2012-07-11T14:59:21","modified_gmt":"2012-07-11T18:59:21","slug":"riders-rebellion-face-off-for-charity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=13605","title":{"rendered":"Riders, Rebellion Face off for Charity"},"content":{"rendered":"

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution will be on the road in Kansas City on July 21st, but that won\u2019t stop a large contingent of some of the soccer club\u2019s most vocal supporters from making the trek to Gillette Stadium. Instead of heading to Foxboro for a Revs match, the Midnight Riders and the Rebellion \u2013 two of the team\u2019s most prominent supporters groups \u2013 will be playing a match of their own and raising money for charity in the process.<\/p>\n

The first ever Supporters Cup will take place on the Gillette Stadium field and pit the Riders, an independent Revs supporters group founded in 1995, against the Rebellion, an independent Revs supporters group founded in 2009, in a full field 11 v. 11, 90 minute match. The idea was born at a \u201cMeet the Revs\u201d event and took off with the support of the Revolution.<\/p>\n

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The Supporters Cup kicks off at 6 p.m. on July 21st at Gillette Stadium.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt started at the annual \u2018Meet the Revs\u2019 event where season ticket holders can be able to chat and interact with the players and staff,\u201d said Mark Purkis, a member of the Rebel HQ, the leadership team of the Rebellion. \u201cIt was at that point where I had the opportunity to meet the President of the Revolution, Brian Bilello.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring our meeting, I asked him about having the Midnight Riders play the Rebellion in a charity soccer match,\u201d Purkis continued. \u201cHe responded with complete support and really liked the idea.\u00a0 He and the marketing department were able to help out in making the game into what we are hoping to be a great event.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the two sides are looking forward to the opportunity to take to the Gillette Stadium pitch, they are also using it as an opportunity to raise money for charity by charging to participate in the event. All the money raised by the Midnight Riders is going to Think Taylor, Taylor Twellman\u2019s head injury awareness non-profit, and the New England Revolution Charitable Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have raised money for Think Taylor in the past so it seemed like a natural choice,\u201d said Fran Harrington, President of the Midnight Riders.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully some of [Twellman\u2019s] goal scoring ability will rub off on the team too,\u201d Harrington added in reference to the Revolution\u2019s all-time leading goal-scorer who founded the charity.<\/p>\n

For the Rebellion, the money raised will be going to The Fisher House, an organization that donates \u201ccomfort homes\u201d built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers for family members to stay at to be close to wounded loved ones, and Little Feet, which provides children in need the equipment and fields to play soccer, as well as the New England Revolution Charitable Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Fisher House was a close choice for our group because we are proud to have great members that have served for our great country,\u201d said Purkis. \u201cSelecting The Fisher House was our way of saying thank you for the troops who defended our freedom.\u00a0 We have also worked with Little Feet in the past, the idea that if we buy a soccer ball for charity and another soccer ball goes to a child in need is just inspiring.\u00a0 We as a group appreciate this organization and what they accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n

But while both the Riders and Rebellion are working hard to raise money for charity and both groups support the same team on a Revolution game day \u2013 many members of both congregate in sections 142 and 143, \u201cThe Fort\u201d \u2013 they\u2019ll be going for the win on the 21st and trying to gain some bragging rights on their fellow supporters.<\/p>\n

The Riders are hoping their extra experience together will give them the edge.<\/p>\n

\u201cChris Camille, one of our board members, is coaching,\u201d said Harrington. \u201cI think we’ll beat the Rebellion because a lot of the members of the Riders have been playing soccer together for years now… and because we are awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Rebellion haven\u2019t settled on just one coach and have taken to Twitter in search of a former pro player to lead the charge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a few members who have showed their support to help coach the team,\u201d said Purkis \u00a0“We have welcomed all of them who want to be coach.\u00a0 We also have reached out to Alexi Lalas on Twitter to be our coach!\u201d<\/p>\n

But while the Riders are hoping experience and \u201cawesomeness\u201d will lead them to victory, the Rebellion think they know the winning strategy, despite the lack of a clear coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are hoping to kick the ball into the opposing net more than the Riders do,\u201d said Purkis. \u201cWe also hope that we can pass the ball to our teammates better than them.\u00a0 If we can pass and kick better than the Riders, we like our chances!\u201d<\/p>\n

They might just be onto something\u2026<\/p>\n

The match kicks off at 6 p.m. on July 21st. More information on the Midnight Riders participation can be found here<\/a><\/span>, and more information on the Rebellion\u2019s participation can be found here<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First ever Supporters Cup pits Revs fans against each other on the soccer pitch, raises money for charity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[104,118,117,123],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/supporterscupfeature.jpg?fit=490%2C240","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13605"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13605"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13619,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13605\/revisions\/13619"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}