Elk Grove Man Organizes 24-Hour Soccer Game to Fight Breast Cancer

Some wear pink ribbons, others walk or run for a day straight, but one Elk Grove resident has decided to raise breast cancer awareness in a different way: with a 24-hour pick-up soccer game.

Jonathan Stein, 37, lost his mother to breast cancer in March this year. She had been fighting the disease since 1993 and died at the age of 70. Stein, a soccer player since the age of four, decided the most appropriate way to honor his mother while fundraising for breast cancer awareness was through soccer.

“I thought about those Relay For Life things, but I don’t walk—it’s just not something I care for,” Stein said. “But my mom was president of the soccer club when I was growing up, so I have been playing my whole life and I thought, ‘What a cool way to honor my mom.’ ” 

The first Annual Soccer for the Cure game will be held from the evening of Aug. 5 to the evening of Aug. 6 at Joseph Sims Elementary in Elk Grove. The plan is to have games of five-on-five for 24 hours straight, switching out players every two hours.

Businesses and individuals can make contibutions of any amount to sponsor the event, and all proceeds will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Stein is asking volunteers to commit to a minimum of two hours in order to make monitoring of the game easier. However, he has said he will not turn people away who cannot or do not want to play for that long.

Though his main goal is to honor his mother and raise breast cancer awareness, Stein is also trying to set a world record: the longest ever five-on-five pick-up game of soccer.

“We could do all of this work and find out someone else beat us, but I’m hoping we have a record for at least a couple days or at least we have a record in the U.S.,” Stein said.

Stein has already submitted paperwork to Guinness World Records and will have people monitoring the whole game to send follow-up information to Guinness.

Stein said the process of setting up Soccer for the Cure was much more work than he expected, but he is grateful to the sponsors and community members who have helped him.

“Elk Grove has that kind of community feeling. That’s the reason people move here,” Stein said. “Although this place has changed, it hasn’t changed that much. Elk Grove is still a place where you can rely on your neighbors.”

Tony Goularte, Financial Service Manager for Mechanics Bank in Elk Grove, has both sponsored the game through Mechanics Bank and made a personal donation.

“I know Jonathan from the community here in Elk Grove and I know Jonathan through business we’ve done together,” Goularte said. “As a community bank we provide support to our community whenever and wherever we can.” 

Stein encourages anyone 14 and older, experienced or not, to join the game. His ultimate goal, he says, is to raise $5,000; so far he has brought in $1,200.

To sign up to play, email jonathan@jonathangstein.com. Donations can be made on the event's website.