Leagues Cup – Club América vs. TBD
Friday, August 9 | 7:00 p.m. | Snapdragon Stadium
Since 2019, Leagues Cup has grown from a small tournament for eight American and Mexican soccer teams into a month-long, continent-spanning cup competition featuring all 47 teams in the MLS and Liga MX. And in what seems to be a regular occurrence these days, Snapdragon Stadium is the site of a premier international match.
Based in Mexico City, Club América is the New York Yankees of Mexican soccer. They’ve won the Mexican top flight more than any other team. They’ve won more international trophies than any other club in North America. They play in one of the biggest stadiums in the world. They’ve never been relegated. Their dominance is why they’re a favorite in this year’s Leagues Cup and why they’re the top seed with a bye to the knockout round. Club América is slated to play the second team out of the West 8 group, which as of this writing is Real Salt Lake, but regardless of the matchup San Diego is once again playing host to some of the best soccer in North America.
San Diego FC Open Tryouts
August 7-8 | 8:00 a.m. | Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center
If there’s any indication of whether San Diegans are excited for San Diego FC, then it’s the response to its Right to Dream Academy open tryouts. “We had 1,000 spots filled in six hours,” said Joaquín Escoto, executive vice president of SDFC & Right to Dream Academy. “We were able to move locations and set up a second day for tryouts. Another 1,000 spots filled up in 12 hours.” A third tryout in Tijuana is also at capacity.
The Right to Dream Academy is what the club considers the foundation of the team. It’s “our differentiator. It’s our special sauce. It’s our identity,” SDFC CEO Tom Penn told San Diego Magazine in April. According to Escoto, players selected for the Academy from the open tryout will train locally throughout San Diego until June 2025, when the club’s state-of-the-art training facility under construction in El Cajon is expected to open.
In August 2025, players will start living and going to school at the facility. Within three years, Escoto expects Academy players to begin making an impact at the professional level, whether that’s with San Diego FC or elsewhere around the world. And if SDFC has its way, those players will become household names. “Our goal is to recruit the best players, hire the best scouts, and build the best complex,” Escoto said.
San Diego Padres vs. New York Mets
Thursday, August 22 | 6:40 p.m. | Petco Park
Watch: Padres.TV
I hope to one day love something as much as AJ Preller loves the MLB trade deadline. After the Padres won seven games of their first nine after the All-Star Break, their prolific general manager shored up a pitching staff battered by injuries by trading for starter Martin Perez and relievers Tanner Scott, Bryan Hoeing, and Jason Adam. “To hit on a few areas of need with players we really liked, we’re excited,” Preller said at a press conference announcing the deals.
The acquisitions are arriving when they are needed most. In August, the Pads have four series against teams vying for a wild card spot they currently hold. No series may be bigger than their four-game set at Petco Park against the New York Mets, who own baseball’s best record since June 1 and are neck and neck with the Pads in the standings. The series’ opener on Thursday, August 22, is the game to get to since, win or lose, the first 40,000 fans receive a free Fernando Tatís Jr. City Connect Bucket Hat.
Bike the Bay
Sunday, August 25 | 7:00 a.m. | Coronado Bay Bridge
On Sunday, August 25, the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition is hosting its annual Bike the Bay event at which cyclists of all ages and skill levels can pedal over the bridge at their own pace. But unless you competed in the recent Tour de France, you should oil that chain, pump up the tires, and go for a spin before the event. The bridge’s 4.67 percent road grade is no joke, but you’ll be rewarded with the single-best best view of San Diego Bay and the city skyline. Typically, that view goes by all too quickly–except for this one day.
SDSU Football vs. Texas A&M-Commerce
Saturday, August 31 | 5:00 p.m. | Snapdragon Stadium
At his press conference kicking off the 2024 season, the 38-year-old Sean Lewis seemed every bit the up-and-coming college football coach. Sporting a trimmed beard, a red SDSU polo, and an easy smile, he motored through questions with a relentlessness and positivity that only a former understudy of Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders could possess. If the Aztecs play as quickly as their new coach talks—Lewis fittingly calls his offense ‘AztecFAST’—then SDSU’s season opener against Texas A&M-Commerce is going to be a hot ticket.
But which quarterback has the keys to that offense, either redshirt sophomore AJ Duffy or freshman Danny O’Neil, is an open question that will have to be resolved on the practice field this month. “They haven’t played at our pace yet,” Lewis said about his quarterbacks. “You can watch as much film as you want, but you get better by doing.”
As for his goals for the program this season and beyond, Lewis aimed high. “It comes down to owning the Old Oil Can,’’ he said, referring to the trophy claimed by the winner of the annual SDSU-Fresno State game. “Then win the Mountain West, and then get an opportunity to compete and win games in the College Football Playoff. Those are the goals year in and year out.” That ambitious path starts on August 31 at Snapdragon Stadium.
