Certified Sacramento Republic FC super fan Matt Briseno is going the extra mile in support of Sacramento Republic FC’s Unified Team, presented by BlueDAG. As the First Team and the Unified Team hop on a plane in the coming weeks, Matt will be pedaling as he bikes from Fallon, NV to Colorado Springs, CO to arrive in time for the Indomitable Club’s match against the Switchbacks on June 13.
Matt has a history of biking to First Team away games, starting in 2017 when the Republic travelled to Southern California to face LA Galaxy in the Open Cup. He has since made trips to Reno, Fresno, Monterey Bay, and Oakland, always wearing a SRFC kit to show his Indomitable pride.
The Sacramento Republic Unified Team is a collaboration between the club, Special Olympics Northern California, and presenting partner BlueDAG that brings together people with and without intellectual disabilities to compete on a soccer team together. Players get the full pro experience – from full kits to weekly practices, travel, and matches played on professional pitches.
Briseno has been the team captain for the past two years promoting the values of Unified Sports – inclusion, friendship, and teamwork. “The Unified Team is a prime example of bringing people together, we have people from different economic statuses, intellectual disabilities, race and religions,” he said. “A lot of life lessons can be learned through soccer, the beauty of the sport is learning those skills on the pitch and applying them off of it.”
Unified Team operations come at no cost to participants, allowing them to proudly represent the Sacramento community without facing economic barriers.
Matt’s three-week trek across changing elevation and mountainous terrain will mark his longest and most challenging ride yet — all for the purpose of raising funds and awareness for the Unified Team. Fans can support Matt’s ride and donate to this campaign through GoFundMe.
“We are very proud to support Matt, as well as the Unified Team, and our relationship with Sac Republic year-round,” Special Olympics Director of Development Morgan Mariano said. “This is a great example of what happens when like-minded partners come together and really exemplify the work that Special Olympics strives to do.”
Matt’s ride isn’t just to raise funds, but awareness as well. The Unified team plays after First Team matches, so Matt hopes that by promoting this amazing team fans will choose to stay for some more soccer action after the sun has gone down and the First Team have hung up their boots.
“I hope more fans will stay around so we can give the Unified Team a true professional experience so there’s more than just their family in the stands cheering them on, but their community,” Briseno said.
You can support Matt’s ride and the Unified Team through this GoFundMe and stay up to date on his adventure on the Community’s Instagram page (@srfccommunity) where they will be posting daily updates.
