A couple months ago we told you about the Nike + Human Race. And now we have Kanye speaking on it a little bit more…

Ethan Zohn has just kicked off his trek to raise money and awareness for HIV/AIDS in Africa. Our girl Anne just sent us the following information about this trip.

Ethan Zohn, kicked off a 3-month, 550 mile journey of alifetime yesterday evening. In the name of Grassroots Soccer UNITED, Ethan will be traveling from Boston to Washington DC on foot and dribbling a soccer ball the entire distance. The first-ever Grassroots Soccer UNITED dribble looks to get kids and all soccer fans around the world involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. Full route map and details can be found at Grassroots Soccer UNITED. 

This is a good cause and we wish Ethan lots of luck.

“Grassroot Soccer, the nonprofit organization that uses “the power of soccer” in the fight against HIV / AIDS has announced that it is teaming up with PUMA to introduce a line of custom soccer gear. The line is available for purchase at Grassroots Soccer United. The created merchandise – jerseys, soccer balls, drawstring gear bags – are branded with the Grassroot Soccer UNITED insignia and is affordably priced, at up to $25 – the exact cost of putting one at-risk youth through the Grassroot Soccer HIV / AIDS education curriculum.”

UPDATE -  They ended up moving the date to July 12th at Allianz Arena in Germany, but everything is a go for Goal4Africa and Nelson Mandela’s 90th Birthday Celebration on July 18th.

Clarence Seedorf, Rino Gattuso, Gigi Buffon, Emmanuel Adebayor, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, and Fabio Cannavaro are just a few of the 40 players coming together in the highly symbolic match.

The Humanitarian Initiative Goal4Africa was conceived from a simple idea, education and football.

On July 18th at the Allianz Arena in Munich, world stars Clarence Seedorf (the 1st Global Ambassador for Goal4Africa), Steven Gerrard, Rino Gattuso and Kaka will play a two team World All-Star match in celebration of Nelson Mandela’s 90th Birthday and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The campaign will continue to run up to the 2010 World Cup with the goal being to raise $90 million, with fans being able to pledge money for every goal scored by their favorite team over the next two years.

image via JCI

Behind the scenes of Steve Nash’s Showdown in Chinatown by 13th Witness.

Luckily for all of us who couldn’t be at Steve Nash’s Chinatown Soccer Showdown today, a couple friends of TOW were there and sent some in for us.  Thanks to Jack and Chris for snapping these pics and sending them our way. It looks like it was quite the event and hopefully it raised some money and awareness for Steve Nash and Claudio Reyna’s respective charities.

More pics after the jump

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On August 31st Nike is holding a world wide running event that spans 25 cities. Nike + Human Race  will be celebrating sport and music all with the intention of raising awareness and money and giving something back.  Some of the charitable partners for this include the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the WWF and the UN refugee agency ninemillion.org (these guys have actually done a lot for children through soccer).

The 10k run will begin in Taipei and end in Los Angeles.  At the end of the Los Angeles leg, Kanye west will perform. Other notable artists that will be performing include Moby in London, All-American Rejects in New York, Fall Out Boy in Chicago, Kelly Rowland in Paris, The Pinker Tones in Madrid, Turkish pop sensation Kenan Dogulu in Istanbul, the Fantastic Four in Munich, Beijing-based singing duo Yu Quan in Shanghai, and American rock band Boys Like Girls in Singapore.

I think I’m gonna have to participate in this one. I’m gonna round up a crew, hit the pavement and then catch Yeezy at the end. If anyone else decides to participate in this event let us know, and send in some pics if you do.

[Source Hypebeast]

Just give me Steve Nash’s life for a couple weeks.  NBA future HoF-er, plays on very fun team, attractive wife, Phoenix in the winter/downtown loft in Soho in the summer, fame and fortune, and he’s even great at soccer.

Here he is hosting a charity soccer tournament in NYC next week.

Steve Nash, who could have played professional soccer instead of basketball, is putting together an all- star soccer match for charity on June 25 at Nike Field on Stanton Street. The “Showdown in China town” will feature four-time World Cup star Claudio Reyna, Liverpool greats Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler, plus Nash’s fellow NBA stars Raja Bell, David Lee and Baron Davis. They’ll party later at Replay in SoHo, where Sotheby’s Hugh Hildesley will auction off such priceless experiences as shooting hoops with Nash or training hard-core with Reyna’s Red Bulls.

In the cash rich environment that is world football, it is not often that you see clubs turn down big money deals. Barcelona did it for years by turning down shirt sponsors, only to finally give in and go the admirable route of doing a deal with Unicef that actually helped raise money for the global charity. Now, according to Reuters Aston Villa has foregone a new shirt sponsor in favor of doing a deal with Acorn Hospice, which looks after “700 life-limited children and their families in the midlands.” Talk about giving back to the community! This is a gesture that shows how important clubs are to local communities, and is a reminder that the soccer plays a bigger role within their communities than we often realize. On a side note, Randy Lerner, Aston Villa’s American owner spent $7 million to “renovate a derelict pub near the stadium’s famous Holte End because it was part of the club’s history.” Lerner has definitely endeared himself to the Villa faithful and shown that an American owner can run an English club in a manner that grows it at the global level, while understanding and preserving the past.

[Source Reuters]

Hollywood United (Celebrity Edition) took on Alpine United (A Swiss/Austrian mix) at Pacific Palisades High School Sunday to kick of the 2008 UEFA European Championships June 7th - 29th.

And while HUFC walked away with a 5-2 win, it was a great time for the fans and the boys on the field.

E! News and Fox Soccer Channel (amongst others) were there to cover the kickoff match and the event will end with a major Auction at the Swiss Consulate next weekend in Los Angeles.

The teams looked like this..

HOLLYWOOD UNITED

Anthony LaPaglia, Actor, Without a Trace;
Brandon Routh, Actor, Superman;
Dermot Mulroney, Actor, About Schmidt;
Jimmy-Jean Louis, Actor, Heroes;
Roberto Urbina, Actor, The Argentine;
Donal Logue, Actor, Ghost Rider;
Gilles Marini, Sex and the City TM;
Danny Cannon, Director, Goal!, CSI Las Vegas;
Allen Hopkins, Producer, Goal!, ESPN Commentator;
Brian Dunseth, Ex-professional, Fox Sports Commentator;
Frank Leboeuf, Ex-professional, midfielder for the French 1998 World Cup Champions;
Alexi Lalas, Ex-professional, American World Cup player and Italian Serie A player, GM of the LA Galaxy;
Olivier Biaggi, Ex-professional, defender, Switzerland;
Steve Jones, Guitarist, Sex Pistols, radio personality;
Paul Cook, Musician, Sex Pistols;
Ziggy Marley, Musician;
Rohan Marley, Musician;
Vivian Campbell, Guitarist/Singer, Def Leppard;
Billy Duffy, Guitarist, The Cult;
Bob Sinclar, DJ

ALPINE UNITED

SWISS PLAYERS

Xavier Koller, Academy Award Winning Director, Journey of Hope;
Raffaele Memoli, Actor, Eau Contraire;
Giacun Caduff, Director, 2B or Not 2B.
Oliver Wyss, Ex Professional, Founder “Soccer For Hope”
Bob Ammann, Ex Professional, Head Coach, Cal State Fullerton University
Jan Hofer, Nestlé
Dan Aellen, Nestlé
Fausto Zaina, Switzerland Tourism
Frank Ustar, Swiss Consulate General
Helmut (John) Bell, Cinetyp
Stefan Bachofner, Owner Waterfront Café, Venice.
Urs Baur, Advertising Executive
Matthias Inauen, Web Developer

Actor Daniel Bernhardt, The Matrix Reloaded, and Chivas soccer pro Raphael Wicky are injured and will cheer Alpine United from the bleachers.

AUSTRIAN PLAYERS

Patrick Knapp, Entertainment Attorney
Robert Amstler, Actor, Model, Bodybuilder
Walter Spatny, Actor and Model
Roland Kickinger, Actor, Bodybuilder, Fitness expert
Christian Huemer, Art Historian, Getty Institute
Thomas Grabner, CEO, Kastner & Partners, PR Company
Claus Ettensberger, CEO, Claus Ettensberger Corporation, Luxury Auto Accessories
Georg Ladek, Ex semi-professional, Real So Cal Soccer Club Team Manager
Jan Rupp, President, A79 Clothing
Martin Weiss, Consul General of Austria