               
SAMYS brought San Antonio its first-ever MLS preseason exhibition match between the Colorado Rapids and NY/NJ MetroStars in March of 2004. The SAMYS Army, dedicated corps of volunteers, helped coordinate ticket sales, negotiate facility use agreements and assisted in the promotion and game-day operations for the event. This was a sold-out game with a standing-room-only crowd of 4,200 fans held in Blossom Soccer Stadium. The normal capacity of this high school venue is only 2,800 seats. This singular event drew fans from as far as the Valley, Houston, Dallas and Austin and was one of the most successful preseason matches held in a non-MLS market up until March of 2008.
In March of 2008, Sakiewicz architected yet another major event by bringing to the San Antonio area four MLS teams in a week-long preseason training camp and exhibition tournament called the Texas Pro Soccer Festival. www.TexasProSoccerFest.com. Three double-header games were played in Cibolo at Steele High School stadium. The teams trained daily at Soccer, TX in Schertz and drew approximately 10,000 fans to the area, the largest gathering of any sporting event in Cibolo’s history. All four teams stayed in hotels on the Riverwalk providing hundreds of thousands of dollars in tourism and visitor tax. Other SAMYS accolades are: Advisors for MLS for San Antonio’s first-ever World Cup Qualifying match between Mexico and Dominca national teams, held at the Alamodome in June of 2004. Primary responsibilities included building event awareness and grassroots marketing. The match drew over 37,000 fans. Advisory group for Traffic Sports, the promoter of the Mexico v. Guatemala friendly game held at the Alamodome, in November of 2004. The match drew over 15,000 fans. Advisors for MLS/SUM for InterLiga matches in San Antonio's Alamodome, January of 2005. Despite the challenge of scheduling the event shortly after the Christmas & New Years holiday and with a very brief window to promote the event, the matches drew an over 10,000 fans SAMYS hosted the largest amateur Hispanic soccer tournament sponsored by MLS called FutbolitoTM. The event was held at Soccer, TX for 3 consecutive years. Discussions are under way to return the tournament to the newly redeveloped complex in the summer of 2010. SAMYS partnered with HBO to include SAMYS as a major corporate sponsor of the "Dare to Dream" documentary, "The Story of the US Women's Soccer Team". Sakiewicz provided opening remarks at the 2005 Premiere in San Antonio.  |