Growing the game: Stars spread love of hockey at El Súper Clásico

DALLAS -- On a muggy Sunday afternoon in Fair Park just outside the legendary Cotton Bowl, Sandra Juarez and her parents, Sara and Jose, found themselves making unexpected plans three weeks from now.
Here for El Súper Clásico - one of the biggest rivalries in Mexican soccer between Club América and Chivas Guadalajara - the last thing the Juarez family expected was to come away with free tickets to a hockey game.

The Dallas natives were among thousands of fans from around the U.S. gathering at Cotton Bowl Stadium for the match, which drew an estimated crowd of 50,000 for the first El Súper Clásico in Big D in 25 years. As the Juarezes made their way through the Fan Fest portion of the event, which included live music, food and merchandise vendors, a Dallas Stars pop-up tent caught the family's attention.
RELATED: [Photos from Fan Fest at El Súper Clásico]
Maybe it was the team's lovable mascot, Victor E. Green, who was making the rounds to the delight of kids (and adults) or the steady stream of patrons visiting the booth. Nevertheless, the family of three decided to see what the hype was about. Minutes later, they came away with Stars hats, T-shirts and tickets to an upcoming preseason game.

With a Victory Green Stars shirt resting over her shoulder, Sandra was understandably surprised to see her hometown team representing at a major Mexican soccer match.
"I had no idea the Stars were going to be here," she said with a smile, as her parents - also with Stars hats - stood nearby. "It's a nice surprise."
The Juarez family has never attended a hockey game, so seeing the Stars at American Airlines Center will be a first.
"I've been wanting to go to a hockey game, but something always seemed to come up," Sandra said. "Now, I'm going to go because I have tickets and all the Stars swag. It's encouraging to look more into hockey and invite my parents."
Francisco Rodriguez made the drive from New Mexico with his kids - Camila and Ricardo - along with his brother and nephews to attend the match. Now, they're making plans to come back in early October for their first hockey game. The kids eagerly threw on their new Stars hats and posed for photos.
"We've never been to a hockey game, but I think it'll be fun," Francisco said, pictured at the top of the story in a Stars camo hat. "We have family in Waco, and we come out every month."
The kids were just as excited, collectively yelling out "Yes!" when asked if they were looking forward to attending a Stars game for the first time.
The event Sunday also made a new Stars fan out of Martha Maki, who never thought she'd see a hockey tent set up at a soccer match of this size. Maki, who traveled from Riverside, California, is bringing home more Stars merchandise than she had before the trip.

"I actually have a team now," she said with a smile. "It's awesome. Having hockey blend in with soccer is awesome."
Having an active presence in the community is important to the Stars, who regularly make appearances locally to promote the organization and introduce as many people to the game of hockey as possible. Among the merchandise handed out at the Stars tent on Sunday were T-shirts, hats, pencil pouches, lunchboxes and jerseys for kids. Fans stopping by also received free tickets to any of the three Stars preseason games at American Airlines Center.
Adjacent to the booth was an inflatable slap-shot cage that gave fans the opportunity to test their shooting accuracy.
To be at an event of this magnitude was a no-brainer for Stars promotions manager Eric Wilder, who also handles in-arena giveaways and theme nights.
"Soccer has a huge following," Wilder said. "It's a global sport. You know you're going to have a good turnout whenever it's any kind of event associated with it. We just want to be a part of that.
"The skills are so transferrable with soccer and hockey," Wilder said. "We want to show people that hockey is an awesome sport that incorporates a bunch of skill sets. We want to take every opportunity to introduce people to the sport and get people out to our games."

As a Dallas native, Wilder has seen first-hand the growth of hockey in his hometown.
"It's grown so much in this state over the past several years and since the team moved here in 1993," he said. "We're just trying to keep building that as much as possible. There are so many opportunities here in the Dallas-Fort Worth] metroplex to skate and learn the game of hockey - and learn it for free.
"We want to take every opportunity to get kids out to games, introduce them to the sport and get them on the ice and have some fun because it's such an awesome sport."
For more information on free on-ice hockey programs for kids, visit the Stars Little Rookies page
[here
. Adults ages 18+ who are interested in learning the game of hockey for free can visit the Stars Adult Rookies Program page
here
.
Victory Club memberships are available now for 2021-22! Beyond season tickets, don't miss your chance to secure the best seats for Stars home games, plus exclusive benefits, members-only experiences and much more. Click here to learn more!
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Kyle Shohara is the Digital Manager for DallasStars.com and writes about the Stars/NHL. Follow him on Twitter @kyleshohara.