By Zach Thummel
Columbia Gorge News
THE GORGE — FIFA fans from throughout the Gorge gathered at Bargeway Pub in The Dalles on June 24, for a watch party for Mexico vs. Czechia. Fans gathered at 5 p.m. for a 6 p.m. kickoff, and the energy was palpable. Mexico went on to win the match, 3-0, with the fans’ excitement reflecting the score.
Gorge resident Juan Hernandez came up with the idea for a FIFA watch party just before the FIFA World Cup started in June. Hernandez brought the idea to owners Steve and Stacey Kane, who were on board.
“I’m just a huge soccer fan,” said Hernandez. “I watch soccer all the time, and I saw a lot of my friends out in the bigger cities doing watch parties and hosting watch parties, and I thought The Dalles or the Gorge in general doesn’t have anything like this. Let me see what I can do. I looked at a few spots around town to see where we could potentially make it happen. I brought the idea to Steve, and he had the space for it.”
Since June 12, Hernandez and Bargeway have hosted five watch party events in the month of June, with their eyes also set on July. Within this game day experience, Hernandez built in a variety of opportunities for fans to win prizes such as new soccer balls and new Nike soccer jerseys from a range of teams.
“For the raffles, I run them during the games, so I give out the tickets at the door, and everyone gets one for a chance to win a jersey. I’ll also announce all the sponsors and run little contests of who can juggle the most, and some soccer trivia to try to win a ball and other smaller prizes.”
Hernandez said none of the contests and raffles during the watch party would have been possible without prize donations from their sponsors: Elias Landscape and Maintenance, Northern Wasco County PUD, Kivett Design, La Michoacana Grocery Store, JH Beauty, Brick City & Games and Iron Fitness. Hernandez added that it’s the community that makes putting on an event like this worth it.
“My favorite part, honestly, is just having the community all together. Soccer unites people; there’s no politics, and you just get together and have a good time and watch some dang soccer. It’s been amazing seeing everybody have a good time.”
“I wasn’t really trying to accomplish anything crazy; I just wanted to have a group of people to get together and enjoy soccer. It turned out to be way, way bigger than I expected it to turn out to be. During the Mexico game last Thursday, they (Bargeway) had close to 300 people that night. I would have never expected it to be as big as it was.”
For future FIFA watch parties at Bargeway Pub, check out their website at bargewaypub.com/worldcup and Instagram at thebargeway.
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