SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio FC briefly paused its Saturday-night game against visiting RGV FC in honor of the 19 students and two teachers who lost their lives during an elementary school attack in Uvalde, 85 miles west of the Alamo City.
The names and ages of the 21 victims, gunned down by an 18-year-old shooter who police say entered the school Tuesday morning with hundreds of rounds of ammunition, were read out by the game announcer.
Instead of posting match updates during the game, the home team instead dedicated its social media channels to promoting resources for Uvalde victims.
The shooting at Robb Elementary jolted the region just two days before the school year was set to end. Local law enforcement are now under scrutiny after Texas officials admitted procedural mistakes were made during their initial response, and Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday publicly committed to investigations of "every official" involved.
"In place of traditional match updates tonight, we will provide resources that help serve our south Texas community," SAFC said in a statement posted online shortly before the game. "All of our strength, love and support continues to be with our neighbors, friends and family in Uvalde."
The team followed up that message with a link to the San Antonio Area Foundation portal which is collecting donations for those affected by the Tuesday attack. Later, SAFC shared links to the Children's Bereavement Center of South Texas, San Antonio-based Family Service and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.
Players also took the field wearing black ribbons in honor of the lives lost.
Austin FC is also collecting donations in solidarity with Uvalde shooting victims, teaming up with FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo FC and Houston Dash to wear remembrance patches during its Memorial Day weekend games.
Anyone interested in other ways of helping can find a running list here.