We celebrated the life and legacy of global icon Bruce Lee on July 15 as Sounders FC took on FC Dallas with a plethora of community-focused celebrations.
In continuation of our partnership with Intentionalist, the match featured the following four AANHPI-owned food vendors: Big Boys Kainan, Thai-U-Up, Tai Tung and Sweet Alchemy. Tai Tung, Seattle’s oldest Chinese restaurant, was frequented by Lee himself who regularly ordered his favorite dish that fans could enjoy – oyster sauce beef.
Our expert partners from the Wing Luke Museum held a pop-up exhibit for fans to learn about Lee’s philosophies and teachings. The Wing Luke Museum is the permanent home for rotating Bruce Lee exhibits, produced in collaboration with the Bruce Lee Foundation.
Fans in attendance were also invited to participate in the “One Family” mandala art project. Inspired by the Bruce Lee Foundation and Lee’s famous quote, “Under the sky, under the heavens, there is but one family,” fans created their own small work of art that was used in the construction of a large, collective mandala that celebrates our interconnectedness.
Additionally, youth in attendance participated in a free Soccer Kung Fu Clinic hosted by Sounders FC, RAVE Foundation and the Bruce Lee Foundation. The clinic illustrated the club’s Purpose Beyond the Pitch commitment made alongside the launch of The Bruce Lee Kit, wherein we invested proceeds from jersey sales to develop youth programming and curriculum emphasizing the intersection of Lee’s teachings with soccer, movement and art.
In the days leading up to the match, we hosted a Soccer Kung Fu Day Camp and a Soccer Kung Fu Clinic in collaboration with RAVE Foundation and the Bruce Lee Foundation. Attendees from both were honored at the match through RAVE’s Community Kids of the Match and Dream Team, respectively.
We held a pregame ceremony called “Art and Action” as a grand tribute to the duality that defined Bruce Lee by uniting different forms of live performance to represent facets of Lee’s life, together in harmony. The ceremony featured world-renowned performance painter David Garibaldi, the People’s Pop Orchestra and Seattle’s premier lion dance troupe, Mak Fai! Following the conclusion of the ceremony, Bruce Lee’s family was presented the highest honor Sounders FC can bestow, a Joe Roth Golden Scarf.
Leading us into the match, Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee, performed the national anthem before leading “Scarves Up!” alongside her daughter, Wren Lee Keasler.
