SOUNDERS FC SKILLS CHALLENGE Presented by zulily

Sounders FC wants to help kids and families hone their soccer skills at home while practicing social distancing

Each week, we’ll be posting a new video of a First Team player participating in the Sounders FC Skills Challenge, presented by Zulily.

CHALLENGE #1: Sounders FC Captain Nicolás Lodeiro

While everyone might not have a soccer ball lying around the house at the moment, that shouldn't stop you from playing the beautiful game. There are plenty of creative ways to turn ordinary household items into makeshift soccer balls.

Are you up for the challenge? We want to see what ordinary items you can use as a soccer ball. It could be anything: a roll of toilet paper, a bunch of plastic bags taped together, or even a bundle of t-shirts held together by rubber bands. Get creative!

Film a video of you or your kids using your homemade soccer ball and post it on social media using @zulily, @SoundersFC and #SFCSkillsChallenge! We’ll pick a winner on Tuesday, March 31, who will receive a personalized congratulations video from the one-and-only Nicolás Lodeiro, as well as a prize package including a replica Forever Green jersey courtesy of Zulily.

Show us what you’ve got!

Official Rules

The Seattle Sounders FC-SFC Skills Challenge (the “Program”) is sponsored by Seattle Soccer, LLC d/b/a Seattle Sounders FC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). No purchase necessary.  A purchase will not increase your chances of winning.  To enter, you must meet the eligibility requirements and participate in accordance with the rules set forth herein.  The Program is void where prohibited or restricted by applicable law, and all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.  The Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, modify or suspend the Program at any time.

ELIGIBILITY

Eligibility to participate in the Program or to win prizes is limited to persons who are legal residents of the State of Washington, less those who live within a seventy-five (75) mile radius around the city limits of Portland, Oregon, that extends into the State of Washington, whom are at least eighteen (18) years of age or older on the date of Entry.  Any effort by an entrant to misrepresent their eligibility will disqualify that entrant. Entrants who disregard these Official Rules are not eligible to participate or win.  Directors, officers, employees, contractors, agents and licenses, or their immediate families and household members (spouse, parent, child and sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside), of Sponsor, Major League Soccer, L.L.C. (“MLS”), Soccer United Marketing, LLC (“SUM” and collectively with Seattle Sounders FC and MLS, the “MLS Entities”), and Zulily, LLC (“Zulily”), and each of their respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, and advertising and promotion agencies are not eligible.

HOW TO PLAY

This Program shall begin at 08:00 AM PST on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 and conclude at 11:59 PM PST on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 (“Program Period”).  There will be one winner drawn each week during the duration of the program period. All entries must be received by the end of the Program Period. Mail entries must be received by close of business on the last business day of the Program Period. To apply:

By entering the program, Participant agrees and consents to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, which shall be final, and waives any right to claim ambiguity in the program or these Official Rules.

During the Program Period, you can enter via one of the following methods (each an “Entry”): (a) SOCIAL MEDIA: post a video of your Sounders FC Skills Challenge entry with the official hashtag #SFCSkillsChallenge and tag @SoundersFC and @Zulily to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter; if a Participant uses a mobile phone to enter Participant may incur data charges from their wireless service provider; check with your wireless service provider for details on any applicable charges; Participant is solely responsible for any such wireless charges; not all wireless carriers participate; (b) MAIL-IN: send a self-addressed stamped envelope to with your first name, last name, address (including city, state, and zip code), email address, and phone number to “SFC Skills Challenge, c/o Seattle Sounders FC, 159 S Jackson St. Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98104”.

To enter the Program through Twitter, you must (a) be a registered user of Twitter and (b) have a public (i.e. not "protected") Twitter account. If you are not a registered user of Twitter, you may sign-up for free by visiting www.twitter.com or downloading the Twitter application on your mobile device and following the enrollment instructions. Once you have registered you may enter by tweeting your Entry with the above-described hashtag via your Twitter account during the Program Promotion Period. Use of the hashtag constitutes your unconditional acceptance to these Official Rules.  You agree to follow all terms of use for Twitter, which can be found at https://support.twitter.com/articles/18311.  If you make or receive tweets on your mobile phone, standard data fees may apply. See your wireless provider for pricing plan details. In order to participate in the Program without receiving tweets on your mobile phone, be sure to deactivate your mobile phone from your Twitter account.  All Twitter entrants shall be bound by the terms and conditions governing Twitter, as may be found at https://twitter.com/tos?lang=en.  Entrants who attempt to enter multiple times through multiple accounts will be disqualified and may be subject to additional penalties imposed by Twitter. 

To enter the Program through Facebook, you must to be a registered user of Facebook. If you are not a registered user of Facebook, you may sign-up for free by visiting www.facebook.com or downloading the Facebook application on your mobile device and following the enrollment instructions. Once you have registered, you may enter by posting your photo with the above-described hashtag to the Program Facebook page with the hashtag. Each completed post utilizing the hashtag to Facebook as directed, will result in one (1) Entry in the Program.  Each entrant on behalf of himself/herself and his/her heirs forever releases, holds harmless and indemnifies Facebook from and against any and all liability, claim or damages arising out of this Program and Entrant’s participation in this Program.  Facebook is not a Sponsor of this Program and is not responsible for its administration or operation in any way. Use of the hashtag constitutes your unconditional acceptance to these Official Rules.  If you use your mobile phone to access Facebook, standard data fees may apply. See your wireless provider for pricing plan details. 

Each Entrant in the Program agrees to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor, which shall be final, and to accept delivery of any prize won based upon availability. In addition, each Entrant represents and warrants that all information contained in his/her Entry is true and accurate. The Sponsor is not responsible for any printing errors in these Official Rules, or otherwise in any materials available at the Program website. Sponsor shall not be responsible for lost, late, misidentified or misdirected entries, or telecommunication or computer hardware or software performance, errors, delays or failures.  Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any individual who tampers with the Entry process or the administration of the Program.

Sponsor in its sole and exclusive discretion shall determine which entries received during the Program Period, if any, are eligible for the award of the Prize.  Sponsor in its sole and exclusive discretion may elect not to select any Entry, in the event that (a) no Entry received is eligible, (b) no Entry meets the selection criteria; and/or (c) no Entry otherwise qualifies for selection.

All entries must be created and authored by the Entrant and must be original, previously unpublished, and cannot have been submitted in connection with any other like contest, promotion or application.  By entering, each Entrant warrants that (a) the Entry is original to and was created solely by the Entrant and has not been copied, in whole or in part, from a copyrighted or proprietary work belonging to someone else, (b) the Entry does not violate any copyright laws, and does not plagiarize, libel, slander, defame, disparage, or otherwise infringe on or violate the rights of any third parties, (c) entrant is legally entitled to submit the Entry in the Program; (d) the Entry contains no profanity or vulgarity in any language including signs or symbols implying profane or vulgar meaning or intent (intent and vulgarity will be judged at the sole and exclusive discretion of Sponsor) and (e) the distribution, reproduction, display and any other uses of the Entry by Sponsor or Zulily as permitted herein will not infringe any third party rights.

By entering, each Entrant further warrants and represents that they own all right, title and interests in and to the Entry.  All Entries, and any derivatives thereof, shall be considered “works made for hire” under the Copyright laws of the United States, and all rights therein, including without limitation the exclusive copyright thereto shall become the property of Sponsor.  Sponsor reserves the right to request proof of authorship, as it is commonly understood under United States and International copyright law and conventions, in a form acceptable to Sponsor from any entrant at any time. Failure to provide such proof may, if requested, render the relevant Entry null and void.  All entries must comport with the Seattle Sounders FC brand and public image and may not be offensive or inappropriate as determined by Sponsor in its sole and exclusive discretion.  Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any Entry and to prevent a submitted Entry from being displayed at www.soundersfc.com or on Sponsor’s social media platforms, that in its sole and exclusive discretion is offensive, inappropriate, not keeping with the Sponsor’s image or that is otherwise abhorrent to these Official Rules.

All entries must not defame or invade publicity or privacy rights of any person, living or deceased, or otherwise infringe upon any person’s personal or property rights. If the Entry includes a picture, photograph or likeness of any person other than entrant, by entering each entrant acknowledges and agrees that he or she has obtained the written consent of any such person to include such person’s picture, photograph or likeness and to use such picture, photograph or likeness for the purposes described herein.

All entries shall become the sole and exclusive property of Sponsor and used as provided in the MLS Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, each of which can be found by visiting http://www.mlssoccer.com/terms-service and http://www.mlssoccer.com/privacy-policy  (both of which are incorporated herein by reference), regardless of whether or not the Entry is selected as a winning Entry.  By uploading an Entry, the submitting party hereby grants, conveys and transfers all right, title and interest in copyright or otherwise in the Entry to Sponsor and shall have no continuing right to use, adapt, or exploit the Entry for any purpose, without the express written permission of Sponsor.  Sponsor, its affiliates, partners and designees (including Zulily), and its respective agents and agencies, shall be free to publish, use, adapt, edit and/or modify, perform, broadcast, copy and exploit, including the right to create derivative works from, your Entry in any way, worldwide in perpetuity, in any and all media whether known or hereafter created, for whatever purpose, without limitation and without further compensation. 

PERSONALITY RIGHTS

By uploading an Entry which may include narrative, video or photo with one of the official hashtags, each Entrant for himself or herself and on behalf of their heirs, successor and assigns hereby grants to Sponsor, its partners and designees (including Zulily), its agents and others working on its behalf the right to use the entirety of the Entry and any specific component thereof, including the Entrant’s name, Twitter/Facebook  handle, likeness, voice, image and the photograph provided in the Entry, and any additional audio, video or photographs taken by the Sponsor or its affiliates or representatives during the Program for advertising and marketing purposes, including on the Program website, in-stadium on match day, re-tweeting, re-posting or otherwise aggregating Entrant’s Entry alone or with others in any format without additional compensation. Nominee may be required to execute an additional waiver and release of personality rights, which may be a condition precedent to receiving the award. 

DRAWING

Winner will be selected from amongst all eligible entries received. One (1) random drawing will be conducted on the following dates during the promotional period by Sponsor at its exclusive discretion and control. 

• March 31, 2020
• April 7, 2020
• April 14, 2020
• April 21, 2020
• April 28, 2020

Winners will be notified by phone or email, at Sponsor’s discretion and control.  Odds of winning are determined by the total number of eligible entries received.

PRIZE AND PRIZE CLAIM

There will be one (1) prize awarded per week and five (5) total prizes during the promotional period. The prize shall consist of one (1) Sounders FC replica Rave Green jersey in size large, one (1) Zulily branded reusable shopping tote, one (1) Zulily branded food storage bag and One (1) Zulily branded buildable travel straw kit. (“Prize”).  The approximate retail value of the Grand Prize is $108.00. 

In order to accept the Prize, Sponsor may require the winner to execute an affidavit of eligibility, publicity release (except where prohibited), confidentiality agreement, release of all copyrights or other right, title and interest in the Artwork and Submission, and other documentation precedent to the delivery of the Prize (an “Releases and Affidavits”). If any Prize winner does not respond to the notification within two (2) business days, is found to be ineligible, fails to execute the Releases and Affidavits or other documentation required by the Sponsor, the Sponsor may consider said Prize winner to have forfeited the Prize and another Prize winner may be selected. The Prize is not transferrable and not substitutable with cash or a cash equivalent.  In addition, Prize winners assume sole responsibility for all costs associated with the any component of the Prize not explicitly outlined above, including without limitation, all federal, state and local taxes incurred as a result of being awarded and accepting the Prize.  Sponsor will furnish necessary tax documentation, including an IRS Form 1099, upon request.  The Prize may be substituted by Sponsor at its sole and exclusive discretion. Due to the Covid-19 crisis, the actual distribution of any Prize to any winner may be delayed until a time when it is deemed safe for Sponsor to return to normal operations.

GENERAL RULES.

Each entrant in the Program agrees to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor, which shall be final, and to accept delivery of any Grand Prize won based upon availability. In addition, each entrant represents and warrants that all information contained in his/her entry is true and accurate. The Sponsor is not responsible for any printing errors in these Official Rules or otherwise in any materials available at the Program Site. By submitting an entry, each entrant for himself or herself and on behalf of their heirs, successor and assigns hereby grants to Sponsor, its partners and designees (including Zulily), its agents and others working on its behalf the right to use the entrant’s name, likeness, voice, and any additional audio, video or photographs taken by the Sponsor or its affiliates or representatives during the Program for advertising and marketing purposes, including on the Program website, without additional compensation except where prohibited by law, and further grants Sponsor the right to use contestant contact information for to contact contestants about other Sponsor or Sounders FC programs. Sponsor shall not be responsible for lost, late, misidentified or misdirected entries, or telecommunication or computer hardware or software performance, errors, delays or failures. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process or the administration of the Program. Each entrant hereby releases, and agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Sponsor, Major League Soccer, L.L.C. and Soccer United Marketing, LLC, and Zulily, LLC, and those working on their behalf, and each of their respective owners, officers, members, managers, directors, representatives, employees, agents, successors and assigns (collectively “Released Parties”), from any damage, injury, death, loss or other liability, either at law or equity, whether known or unknown, asserted or non-asserted, that may arise from or in any way relate to participation in this Program or the awarding, acceptance, use or misuse of the Grand Prize or any other substitute prize. Any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or in connection with this Program shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action. This Program shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the internal laws of the State of Washington. Any action or litigation concerning this Program shall take place exclusively in the federal or state courts sitting in King County, Washington, and each entrant expressly consents to the jurisdiction of and venue in such courts and waives all defenses of lack of jurisdiction and inconvenient forum with respect to such courts. ANY CLAIMS, JUDGMENTS AND/OR AWARDS SHALL BE LIMITED TO ACTUAL OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH ENTERING THIS PROMOTION. ENTRANT HEREBY WAIVES ANY RIGHTS OR CLAIMS TO ATTORNEY'ʹS FEES, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ENTRANT WHETHER FORESEEABLE OR NOT AND WHETHER BASED UPON NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE.

Released Parties are not responsible for stolen, late, incomplete, illegible, misdirected, lost, damaged, garbled, delayed, undelivered, inaccurate, or garbled entries. Released Parties are not responsible for lost, interrupted or unavailable network, server, Internet Service Provider (“ISP”), website, or other connections, availability or accessibility or miscommunications or failed computer, satellite, telephone or cable transmissions, lines, or technical failure or jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected transmissions or computer hardware or software malfunctions, failures or difficulties, or other errors or difficulties of any kind whether human, mechanical, electronic, computer, network, typographical, printing or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Program, including, without limitation, errors or difficulties occurring in connection with the administration of the Program, the processing of entries, or in any Program-related materials. Released Parties are also not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by website users, tampering, hacking, or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Program.  Released Parties are not responsible for injury or damage to Entrant’s or to any other person’s computer related to or resulting from participating in this Program or from use of the online configurator tool. 

Entrants who tamper with, or abuse, any aspect of the Program or online configurator tool or attempt to undermine the legitimate operation of the Program, or intend to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other Entrant or Sponsor’s representatives, which may be a violation of criminal or civil law, or who are in violation of these Official Rules, as solely determined by Sponsor, will be disqualified any associated entries will be void. Any attempt to deliberately damage the content or operation of this Program is unlawful and subject to legal action by Sponsor, the other MLS entities and/or their respective agents, including Sponsor’s right to seek damages to the fullest extent permitted by law.  The Sponsor, reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend the Program for any reason, including should virus, bugs, unauthorized human intervention, or other causes corrupt the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper operation of the Program.

DATA PRIVACY AND SECURITY 

By entering this Program, Entrant acknowledges and agrees that he/she is voluntarily providing the information requested at the time of entry and does so knowing that he/she may be sharing personal information and data, which may also be Personally Identifiable Information as that term is defined under state and federal law (“PII”).  Sponsor may additionally collect website usage information from each Entrant in the form of cookies, tracking internet protocol addresses, tags, web beacons, pixel tags or other tracking technologies, and/or clickstream data.  Sponsor will use Entrant’s entry data and website usage information to determine Entrant’s eligibility, to contact Entrant about the contest or any Prize, confirm your entry, otherwise administer your participation in the Program, and maintain the website, mobile application, or the operations of other existing or future promotions and/or internal record keeping. 

 By entering this Program, Entrant further consents to Sponsors’ use of his/her information for other marketing and promotional purposes and the receipt of at least one (1) email from each discrete Sponsor identified in the first paragraph of these Official Rules, and if opting in from the MLS Entities, subsequently subject to entrant’s rights under the CAN-SPAM (15 U.S.C. §7701 et. seq.) and the CAN-SPAM Rule (16 C.F.R. §316.1 et seq.).  This Program shall be governed by the Major League Soccer Data Privacy and Security policy which can be found at http://www.mlssoccer.com/privacy-policy and the Major League Soccer Terms of Service which can be found at http://www.mlssoccer.com/terms-service. Sponsor agrees that except as otherwise described in these Official Rules to only use and share entrant’s personal data in accordance with MLS’s Privacy Policy. Sponsor may also combine this information with other information. Entrant is not required to provide any personal data to Sponsor, however choosing not to do so may prevent entrant from being eligible for the Program or prevent Sponsor from fulfilling the Program.

To the extent that any PII is requested and provided by entrant, all PII shall be retained and destroyed consistent with the MLS Privacy Policy and Sponsor’s internal company controls for confidentiality, retention and destruction of such information and data.  Entrant’s PII (if any) will only be retained for the duration of the Program, and any time after the duration of the Program for which the PII is necessary to fulfill the Program. PII will be destroyed when no longer needed for the specific purpose for which it was provided

NOTIFICATION OF WINNER:

For a list of winners, please send a self-addressed, stamped envelope along with your request to “Sounders FC Skills Challenge” c/of Sounders FC-CP, 159 South Jackson Street, Suite 200, Seattle, Washington 98104 on or before November 30, 2020.

at-home soccer activities for kids

Seattle Sounders FC believe that every kid should get the CDC recommended 60 minutes of physical activity each day.  Kids displaced from school because of COVID-19 are also displaced from recess and PE classes where many would get this physical activity.  

Seattle Sounders FC are offering the following 15-minute, simple soccer activities that can be done inside or outdoors to help kids get to their daily 60 minutes of physical activity.  

Activity #1: Walk The Line

• Materials Needed:
  • Cones (household items or tape also work well)
• Activity:
  • Step #1: Using your “cones”, set up an obstacle course around the house or yard with straight, zigzag, and curved lines.
  • Step #2: Each time running through the lines, have the player walk through the course in a different way. Try these and feel free to add your own variations:
    • Forward
    • Sideways
    • Backwards
    • Bear Crawl
    • Crab Walk
    • With a ball at their feet
• Pro Tips:
  • Encourage the player to stay balanced by putting their arms in the air and bending their knees

Activity #2: Ninja Turtle

Materials Needed:

• Cones (household items that stand up on their own like water bottles, books or will also work)

Activity:

• Step #1: Set up “cones” or objects around your house or yard. The players are the “ninja turtles” who must save the world by softly knocking down the objects using the insides of their feet.
• Step #2: Players attempt to knock down each object until all objects are down. For the first three times through players must use the insides of their feet.
• Step #3: If your player is ready to advance, have them pass a ball to knock down the objects. If your player is ready to advance further, stand the objects back up as they go to increase difficulty.

Pro Tips:

Encourage your player to be balanced by putting their arms out in the air

When passing the ball, encourage soft kicks with the inside of the foot

Activity #3: Follow the Leader

Materials Needed:

• Ball

Activity:
Step #1:
Players follow you around the house or yard and copy movements performed by you. Begin with movements that don’t include a ball such as:

Walking backwards

Crab walk

Bear crawl

Step #2: Progress to movements with a ball including

• With ball in hands: bouncing ball, throwing ball in air and catching
• With a ball at feet: dribbling with ball close to feet

Step #3: Finally, progress to have your player being the leader and you following them by copying their movements.

Pro Tips:

Encourage your players to keep the ball close to their body

Give your player positive praise when they successfully follow instruction

Beginner/Intermediate Activities

Activity #1: Soccer Bowling

• Materials Needed:
  • Cones (household items that stand on their own will also work well) to serve as “pins”
• Activity:
  • Step #1: Set up three "pins" close together in a triangle in your house or yard
  • Step #2: Have your player start 6 steps away and make a pass to knock the over the pins.
  • Step #3: After all pins have been knocked down, player moves back another 6 steps to increase difficulty.
  • Step #4: Continue to move back to increase difficulty or add more pins. If passing is too difficult, have players use hands to bowl the ball.
• Pro Tips:
  • Use the inside of the foot when passing to help make the most accurate pass
  • Encourage your player to be balanced by putting their arms out in the air
  • For the foot that is not passing, help your player point this foot towards the pins to help them pass the ball straight

Activity #2: Pirate Ship

• Materials Needed:
  • Ball
• Activity:
  • Step #1: Player(s) (“pirates”) move around area (pirate ship) with ball at their feet.  The adult (“captain”) will shout commands and player(s) will perform the action relating to the captains’ command.
  • Step #2: Introduce commands one at a time:
    • “Captains coming”: Players put sole of one foot on top of the ball to stop and shout “Arghhh”
    • “Climb the ladder”: Players use 5 toe taps on the ball to climb the ladder (with the ball in front of the player, quickly tap right toes then left toes on the ball continuing at a quick pace)
    • “Cannon Ball”: Players warm their cannon balls (soccer balls) by performing 5 inside taps. (help with descriptor here)
    • “Sharks!”: Players hide ball with their body.
    • Feel free to invent your own fun and engaging commands!
• Pro Tips:
  • When dribbling around the area, encourage your players to keep their head up
  • Encourage your players to keep the ball close to their body
  • Give your player positive praise when they successfully follow instruction

Activity #3: Penalty Shootout Celebrations

• Materials Needed:
  • Two household objects placed 5-10 steps apart. The area between these objects will be your “goal”/li>
• Activity:
  • Step #1: Place a “penalty spot” 12 steps away from the goal where the player will shoot from. If they score, encourage the players to perform a silly, crazy celebration.
  • Step #2: To increase difficulty, consider using the following variations:
    • Back the penalty spots up 20 or 30 steps for longer shot
    • Have the player dribble the ball 3 yards before shooting
    • Play as a goalkeeper to encourage the player to shoot past you to score
• Pro Tips:
  • Encourage your player to shoot the ball with the top of foot, not the toe
  • Encourage fun and silly celebrations when they score a goal