SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As Sacramento Republic FC continues to strengthen the club's connection to its community, the team is taking its admiration for military service members to new heights. On Monday, members from Republic FC's front office staff made their first trip to Travis Air Force Base to play a pickup soccer game with airmen and tour the 60th Air Mobility Wing in Fairfield, CA. Travis AFB is home to 10,000 active service members and the largest air mobility organization in the U.S. Air Force. As part of Sacramento Republic FC's Salute to Service Night at Papa Murphy's Park on July 3, the team viewed the visit as an opportunity to create and maintain meaningful connections with some of our nation's best and brightest.
"We have a lot of Sacramento FC fans here," said Cpt. Lyndsey Horn, Chief of Public Affairs at Travis AFB. "We're very privileged that they would want to take the time out of their day to see us."
Horn told ABC10 with airmen working upwards of 12 hours a day on base, visits from community members are extremely meaningful. Monday's visit was both informative and fun for Sacramento Republic FC staff members like team President Ben Gumpert and General Manager Todd Dunivant. The team got a tour of a C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft, the largest plane in the U.S. Air Force, before kicking soccer balls around the cargo bay with service members. After touring the aircraft, the team took the pitch with some airmen on base.
"This is our first trip out here as an organization," Gumpert said. "Certainly we've worked with our servicemen and women in our community, it's something we've done since day one, but we had the idea to come out and visit. We wanted to thank people hand in hand and get to know them a little bit better. Of course, there's no better way to get to know people than with a game of soccer."
In November, ABC10's Lina Washington followed Sacramento Republic FC during one of the club's monthly visits to Folsom State Prison to play pickup soccer with inmates.
Want more Sacramento Republic FC coverage? Check out our updated playlists on the ABC10 YouTube channel here.
