CARSON, Calif. – For members of the Angel City Brigade, the LA Galaxy aren’t simply a sports team, they’re a way of life.
A total of 12 members of the Galaxy supporters group will hit the road this weekend to attend both the Galaxy II’s match against Rio Grande Valley FC in Texas and the Galaxy first team’s clash with Sporting KC in Kansas.
“This is our passion. If I can’t make an away game, I feel empty inside,” ACB member Osmin Pena said. “We planned this trip five months ago. Once the USL schedule came out, we began planning our away trips. When the date came out, we saw that the two games were a drivable distance … we just had to go.”
The group will depart Southern California on Friday for San Antonio and then make a five-hour trip to Edinburg, Texas for the Los Dos clash. After the match on Saturday night, the crew will make the 15 hour trip to Children’s Mercy Park to catch the Galaxy and Sporting.
The trip will be the first one for lifelong Galaxy fan, Antonio Cortez.
A U.S. Army veteran who served from 2006 to 2011, Cortez spent considerable time during his two tours in Iraq following his hometown club from afar via updates from family and occasional ESPN broadcasts. After moving back to Southern California before this season, Cortez joined ACB and began to support his favorite team from close up.
“It’s the first time that I’ve had to really travel because of the logistics and the money involved. It all worked out,” Cortez said. “Not being in the military frees up time for me to enjoy myself and do what I can and can’t do. … The Galaxy always gave me something to root for when I was away. It gave me a chance to disassociate myself from everything that was going on and just focus on home for a little bit.”
With the Galaxy beginning to find their form away from StubHub Center, Cortez and the rest of the ACB believe that they’ll witness a pair of wins this weekend.
“We’re going to have a lot of fun,” Cortez said. “We’re going to make the most of it, but the most important thing is that we’re going to give 180 minutes plus and show our passion.”
