SANDY -- The fun-filled journey that is Real Salt Lake's "Championship Cup Tour" of the State of Utah will wrap up this weekend, but not before the traveling road show makes stops in six counties in six days across the northern portion of the state.
After beginning the final week's journey with this morning's special stop at Hill Air Force Base, the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy will stay in Davis County this afternoon and head to Weber on Tuesday and Wednesday, Morgan (Wednesday), Box Elder (Thursday), Cache (Friday) and Rich (Saturday) counties before heading back to Salt Lake City on Sunday for an appearance on that night's edition of KUTV2's Talkin' Sports at 10:35 p.m., which will also feature the drawing for the 32-inch flat-screen television that fans have been able to enter to win at every stop along the tour.
During February's "Championship Cup Tour," members of the Real Salt Lake organization are ushering North American soccer's top prize in a tour-theme-wrapped Volkswagen Routan across the Beehive State, a journey fans worldwide will be able to follow on www.RealSaltLake.com; the team's Behind the Shield blog, located at www.RSLtotheCore.com; RSL's Facebook fan page at www.Facebook.com/RealSaltLake; and RSL's Flickr photo gallery, which already includes over 3,000 images, at www.Flickr.com/RealSaltLake.
While on the tour, Real Salt Lake's representatives are visiting with youth soccer clubs and speaking at dozens of school assemblies to give the team's youngest fans the chance to see what can be achieved by setting goals and putting in the hard work necessary to achieve them - themes that have been embodied in Kreis' "Fortune Favors the Bold" and "The Team is the Star" mantras since he stepped from the field to the sideline in 2007. Fans at stops along the route will be able to take photos with the MLS Cup trophy and mascot Leo the Lion, bring home giveaway items, and have the chance to win RSL merchandise and 2009 MLS Cup Championship memorabilia.
For more information on the tour, including the full tour schedule and events planned to take place at each tour stop, please visit Real Salt Lake's official tour page or contact John Koluder in the RSL Communications Department at jkoluder@RealSaltLake.com or 801-727-2716.
Monday, Feb. 22 - Hill Air Force Base/Clearfield/Layton/Kaysville (Davis County): One day in Davis County simply wouldn't cut it, so the Championship Cup Tour will kick off its fourth and final week back in Salt Lake County's neighbor to the north, this time making visits to Clearfield and Layton, in addition to a very special stop at Hill Air Force Base in the morning. A robust day of activities starts bright and early at 6:00 a.m., with the Cup Tour gang answering the "bugle call" for a two-hour appearance at the base's fitness center. The tour will stay on base from 8:00-11:30 a.m., visiting various spots around HAFB to allow as many military personnel as possible the opportunity to get a photo with the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy.
From HAFB, the tour moves on at lunchtime to Clearfield for an appearance at KFC Restaurant (609 N. Main Street) from 12:00-12:30 p.m. before shuffling off for an assembly at South Clearfield Elementary (990 E. 700 South in Clearfield) from 1:00-1:30 p.m. The tour will make another KFC Restaurant visit, this time in Layton (747 N. Main Street) from 4:00-4:30 p.m. before making its last stop of the day at Sportsplex in Kaysville (1188 Sportsplex Drive) from 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. before heading back home for the day.
Tuesday, Feb. 23 - Ogden/West Haven (Weber County): The crawl up I-15 continues further north with a trip to the Weber County seat of Ogden, which will host six of eight events on a busy Tuesday. The day begins with a school assemblies at Mt. Ogden Jr. High School (3260 Harrison Blvd) from 9:00-10:00 a.m. and Weber High School (430 W Weber High Dr) from 10:45 - 11:15 a.m. before moving on to a lunch date at the KFC Restaurant location at 1216 Grant Avenue from 12:00-12:30 p.m. and a lengthy study session at the Weber State University Bookstore (2103 University Circle) from 1:00-3:30 p.m.
A slew of appearances at Weber County soccer hot spots begins in the late afternoon, the itinerary including visits to Let's Play Indoor Center (1036 S. Century Drive) from 4:00-4:30 p.m., the Ultimate Indoor Center in neighboring West Haven (2404 S. 2050 West) from 5:00-6:00 p.m., and Soccer Connection (3912 S. Washington Blvd.) from 6:00-7:00 p.m. The day concludes when the tour drops in on the AYSO West Weber meeting at The Gym in West Haven (2805 S. 1900 West) from 7:30-8:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 24 - Ogden (Weber County) and Morgan (Morgan County): After a morning of wrapping up some loose ends in Ogden, the group will jump on I-84 and head on over to Morgan County for the afternoon. The day begins at Ogden's Highland Middle School (325 Gramercy Ave.) with an assembly from 9:00-9:45 a.m., followed by another assembly at Lincoln Elementary School (1235 Canfield Dr.) from 10:30 - 11:00 a.m.
In the afternoon the fun shifts to Morgan County, where the MLS Cup trophy and its entourage will meet up with Mayor Jim Egbert for an Open House with the Cup from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at Morgan Middle School in Morgan (115 E. Young St). The day will conclude when the MLS Cup drops in on another AYSO function, this time a gathering of the folks from the South Weber 151 chapter, at the Family Fresh Foods grocery store (5167 Adams Ave. in Washington Terrace) from 7:30-8:30 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 25 - Brigham City/Tremonton (Box Elder County): It's back up the I-15/I-84 shared corridor on Thursday, when the Championship Cup Tour takes its final turn to the north, a journey that begins with a stop in the Box Elder County seat of Brigham City. The morning will include two school assemblies, the first stop at Bunderson Elementary School (641 E. 200 North) from 9:30-10:00 a.m. being followed by a visit to Foothill Elementary School (820 North 100 East) from 10:30-11:15 a.m.
After a stop for lunch at the Brigham City KFC (955 S. Main Street) from 12:00 - 12:45 p.m., the tour heads over to Perry for an assembly at Three Mile Creek Elementary School (2515 South 900 West) from 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. and then over to Tremonton for an assembly at Alice C. Harris Intermediate School (515 N. Husky Way) from 2:00-3:00 p.m. From there it's back to Brigham City, but this time its via a police and fire truck escort that will take the gang from a gathering starting at 4:30 p.m. at the City Hall (20 N Main) for Mayor Dennis J. Fife's proclamation and over to Adele C. Young Intermediate School (830 Law Drive), where a public gathering will be held in the school's commons area from 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 26 - Logan/Wellsville/Providence/Hyrum (Cache County): It took two weeks, but the run up the Interstate-15 corridor finally ends in Cache County, where the Championship Cup Tour and its entourage will squeeze in eight events on a jam-packed Friday. The second-to-last day of the statewide sojourn begins bright and early with four school assemblies in four different locales - Willow Valley Middle School in Wellsville (525 N. 200 West) from 8:00-8:40 a.m., Morningside Elementary School in Logan (220 N. 100 East) from 9:10-9:40 a.m., Providence Elementary School in Providence (91 E. Center Street) from 10:10-10:40 a.m., and Canyon Elementary School in Hyrum (270 S. 1300 East) from 11:00-11:30 a.m.
That grueling schedule will result in a much-needed break for some lunch at the KFC in Logan (95 E. 400 North) from 12:00-12:30 p.m., which will be followed by another assembly, this time at Nibley Elementary School in Logan (2545 S. 660 West) from 1:00-1:45 p.m. The gang will catch a breather before being honored at a private event with the Infinity FC youth soccer club and guests of Wasatch Properties at the Riverwoods Conference Center (615 S. Riverwoods Parkway in Logan) from 4:30-8:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 27 - Randolph (Rich County): The Championship Cup Tour started a month earlier on one border with Wyoming, so it's only fitting the full-circle tour wraps up on Utah's east-facing border with its neighbor, the journey ending in the northeast corner of the state in Rich County. After one last stop in Logan for the Region 49 registration meeting from 9:00-10:00 a.m., the CCT group will drive two hours east through the heart of Cache National Forest to meet up with Randolph Mayor Chuck Windsor, who will give the entourage a tour of his fair town's historic sites before hosting assemblies at South Rich Elementary School in Randolph (25 S. 100 West) and Rich Middle/North Elementary School in Laketown (54 E. 100 South) (Times TBD).
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