Latest news with #Coliseum
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
California Science Center opens free interactive sports exhibits
Former UCLA softball pitcher Rachel Garcia stands in the batting cage as the digital Rachel Garcia pitches to visitors at the new Game On! exhibition, which opens Thursday at the California Science Center. (Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times) There's a new interactive exhibit opening on Thursday at the California Science Center across the street from the Coliseum that will provide Disneyland-like sports entertainment for all ages, and it's free. Using censors, cameras and 21st century technology, "Game On!" takes up 17,000 square feet formally occupied by the Space Shuttle Endeavor exhibit. It allows visitors to learn about science, sports and movement. You get to actively participate by hitting a softball against pitcher Rachel Garcia, take batting practice instructions from Freddie Freeman and kick a soccer ball into a goal while learning from Alyssa and Gisele Thompson. All are mentors. Advertisement Yet there's so much more. You get to try swimming strokes, skateboarding, snowboarding, cycling. There's climbing, yoga, dancing and challenging your senses during an exhibit that tests your quickness trying to block a hockey puck. There's a basketball exhibit where you shoot a ball toward the basket and learn if your form is good or not. One of the murals at the new interactive sports exhibition at California Science Center. (Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times) "There's something for everybody," said Renata Simril, president and CEO of the LA84 Foundation that helped provide funding along with the Dodgers Foundation and Walter Family Foundation. She's not embellishing. Parents, children, adults, teenagers — they're all going to be smiling. Don't be surprised if nearby USC students discover a new place to enjoy an hour break for fun and laughter from studying by walking over to the exhibition hall when it opens at 10 a.m. The California Science Center new interactive sports exhibit — "Game On!" — opens on Thursday. It's free. (Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times) It's supposed to be open through the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, but don't be surprised if popularity creates momentum to keep it around longer. Advertisement "It's really cool," said Garcia, a former UCLA All-American softball pitcher who appears on a screen showing off her 60 mph pitch as a participant swings a real bat trying to hit an imaginary ball as a light trail moves down a rail toward the batter. "I think it's phenomenal. It's going to get a lot of kids engaged." Garcia even tried to hit against herself. "I missed the first time," she said. The batting cage where Freeman is providing hitting advice has a real soft ball and bat. It will be popular for all ages. The rock climbing exhibit still has not been completed, but participants will wear a harness as they climb toward the ceiling. Advertisement While kids will be the most enthusiastic, a dinner recently held at the facility that had adults dressed in tuxedos and dresses resulted in them trying out the exhibits and acting like teenagers again. Using science to teach lessons could provide inspiration for non-sports visitors. There's sound effects throughout and most important, pushing a button doesn't just mean you watch and listen. It means you get to participate, whether hitting a baseball or softball, trying to make a free throw, trying to swim or skateboard. Don't be surprised when word gets out how fun this exhibition creates. There will be lines. The only question will it be kids lining up or adults? Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
California Science Center opens free interactive sports exhibits
There's a new interactive exhibit opening on Thursday at the California Science Center across the street from the Coliseum that will provide Disneyland-like sports entertainment for all ages, and it's free. Using censors, cameras and 21st century technology, 'Game On!' takes up 17,000 square feet formally occupied by the Space Shuttle Endeavor exhibit. It allows visitors to learn about science, sports and movement. You get to actively participate by hitting a softball against pitcher Rachel Garcia, take batting practice instructions from Freddie Freeman and kick a soccer ball into a goal while learning from Alyssa and Gisele Thompson. All are mentors. Yet there's so much more. You get to try swimming strokes, skateboarding, snowboarding, cycling. There's climbing, yoga, dancing and challenging your senses during an exhibit that tests your quickness trying to block a hockey puck. There's a basketball exhibit where you shoot a ball toward the basket and learn if your form is good or not. 'There's something for everybody,' said Renata Simril, president and CEO of the LA84 Foundation that helped provide funding along with the Dodgers Foundation and Walter Family Foundation. She's not embellishing. Parents, children, adults, teenagers — they're all going to be smiling. Don't be surprised if nearby USC students discover a new place to enjoy an hour break for fun and laughter from studying by walking over to the exhibition hall when it opens at 10 a.m. It's supposed to be open through the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, but don't be surprised if popularity creates momentum to keep it around longer. 'It's really cool,' said Garcia, a former UCLA All-American softball pitcher who appears on a screen showing off her 60 mph pitch as a participant swings a real bat trying to hit an imaginary ball as a light trail moves down a rail toward the batter. 'I think it's phenomenal. It's going to get a lot of kids engaged.' Garcia even tried to hit against herself. 'I missed the first time,' she said. The batting cage where Freeman is providing hitting advice has a real soft ball and bat. It will be popular for all ages. The rock climbing exhibit still has not been completed, but participants will wear a harness as they climb toward the ceiling. While kids will be the most enthusiastic, a dinner recently held at the facility that had adults dressed in tuxedos and dresses resulted in them trying out the exhibits and acting like teenagers again. Using science to teach lessons could provide inspiration for non-sports visitors. There's sound effects throughout and most important, pushing a button doesn't just mean you watch and listen. It means you get to participate, whether hitting a baseball or softball, trying to make a free throw, trying to swim or skateboard. Don't be surprised when word gets out how fun this exhibition creates. There will be lines. The only question will it be kids lining up or adults?
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
SoFi Stadium will co-host Olympics opening ceremony, with the Coliseum
When the Olympics return to Los Angeles, the Coliseum will play a major role in the events. SoFi Stadium will, too. Via Thuc Nhi Nguyen of the Los Angeles Times, the two stadiums will co-host the opening ceremony. It's the first time the opening ceremony will unfold in two separate venues. Advertisement The precise plan for the two-site ceremony has yet to be determined. There's still time to figure it out — the ceremony happens on July 14, 2028. Los Angeles previously hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1984. During the Olympics, SoFi Stadium will host both track and field and the swimming competition. The schedule of those events has been flipped, with track and field happening in the first week of the games, and swimming in the second. Not long after the games end, the 2028 preseason will begin at SoFi Stadium for the Rams and the Chargers.
Associated Press
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Los Angeles Coliseum and SoFi Stadium to share opening and closing ceremonies for 2028 Olympics
LOS ANGELES (AP) — It'll be a mix of old and new for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and Paralympic Games. The historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and state-of-the-art SoFi Stadium in nearby Inglewood will share the ceremonies, city officials announced Thursday, confirming what was part of the city's bid in 2017. It will be the Coliseum's third time hosting the ceremony — the most in Olympic history — and it'll be the first time two locations have shared it. SoFi will also host swimming at the Games. The torch lit by decathlon gold medalist Rafer Johnson at the 1984 Los Angeles Games is still atop the Coliseum's entrance. 'The venues selected for the 2028 opening and closing ceremonies will highlight Los Angeles' rich sporting history and cutting-edge future, showcasing the very best that L.A. has to offer on the world stage,' LA28 chairman and president Casey Wasserman said in a statement. Still to be revealed are how the ceremonies will be staged. The Olympics will be held July 14-30. The closing ceremony takes place on July 30. The Paralympic Games will run from Aug. 15-27. The closing ceremony will be on Aug. 27. ___ AP Olympics at
BBC News
08-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
LA28 Olympic opening ceremony to be held in two stadiums
Los Angeles will become the first city to incorporate two stadiums into an Olympics opening ceremony when it hosts the Games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the SoFi Stadium will host the event on 14 July 2028, organisers of LA28 have Coliseum, which was used at the 1932 and 1984 Olympics, also hosts the closing ceremony on 30 July and becomes the first venue to hold events across three SoFi Stadium, home to NFL sides the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, will host the Paralympics opening ceremony on 15 August with the event closing at the Coliseum on 27 August."The venues selected for the 2028 opening and closing ceremonies will highlight Los Angeles' rich sporting history and cutting-edge future, showcasing the very best that LA has to offer on the world stage," LA28 chair Casey Wasserman said."These two extraordinary venues will create an unforgettable experience, welcoming fans from across the globe to an Olympic and Paralympic Games like never before and concluding what will go down as one of the most-incredible Games in history."Details of the opening ceremony, including how the two stadiums will be used, are yet to be Coliseum, which is home to Collegiate American football side the USC Trojans, will hold the track and field events during the first week at the SoFi Stadium is set to host the swimming competitions in week two.A number of sports have been reinstated at the Olympics in Los Angeles following an absence from the Games, including cricket, lacrosse and squash, while flag football will make its debut.
