Soccer Great To Headline Fundraising Event

SALISBURY- Local soccer fans will have the opportunity next week to meet and greet and have a drink served to them by one of the sport’s all-time greats all in the name of a worthy cause.

Brew River Dock Bar in Salisbury next Wednesday is hosting a benefit for the Cystic Fibrosis in the name of young local Keller Koch, who was diagnosed with the disease at the age of three. Keller’s father Corey Koch is the brother-in-law of U.S. women’s soccer great Tisha Venturini-Hoch, who is likely the most decorated athlete in women’s soccer history.

Venturini-Hoch will serve as guest bartender at next Wednesday’s benefit for Cystic Fibrosis at the Brew River Dock Bar with proceeds going to the foundation in the name of Team Keller. Venturini-Hoch was a four-time national champion at the University of North Carolina from 1991 to 1994. In 1996, Venturini-Hoch was on the U.S. Women’s National Team that won an Olympic gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta and scored the U.S. team’s first-ever goal in Olympic competition.

In 1999, Venturini-Hoch was a member of the U.S. women’s national team that won the FIFA World Cup championship. She later won a professional championship in women’s soccer with the Bay Area Cyber Rays. She is believed to be the only athlete in history to win a collegiate championship, an Olympic championship, a World Cup championship and a professional championship.

Venturini-Hoch will be the featured guest bartender at the Cystic Fibrosis fundraising event next Wednesday at Brew River and will bring her Olympic gold medal. She will pose for pictures, sign autographs and allow attendees to wear and touch her Olympic medal. The event is set for next Wednesday, August 5, at Brew River from 5-9 p.m.

There will be live music and drink specials all night and the event is open to all ages. Proceeds will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation under the name Team Keller.