Thirteen fire and public safety agencies from across the Bay Area swapped turnout gear for cleats on Sunday, gathering at Glens Stadium on Treasure Island for the second annual Golden Gate Invitational soccer tournament. Contra Costa County Fire Protection District walked away with the win, beating out regional rivals including Richmond Firefighters Local 188 in the 7v7 round-robin competition. The event was hosted by a San Francisco firefighters soccer team, with San Francisco Firefighters Local 798 among the participating agencies.
The tournament raised money for the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation, according to the San Francisco Fire Department, which shared video from the day under the hashtag #yoursffd. Los Bomberos de San Francisco and San Francisco Glens SC helped bring the tournament to the community, and San Francisco Fire Credit Union also contributed to the day's proceedings. KTVU Channel 2 News was on hand to provide video coverage of the games.
Community Donors Covered the Overhead
Behind the scenes, local organizations split the costs of putting on the tournament so that entry fees and donations could go directly to the cause rather than covering logistics. Food was donated by San Francisco Fire Credit Union, beverages came courtesy of Fathers Beer, SF Glens SC provided venue access, and Los Bomberos de San Francisco chipped in financial support, according to Bay Area Firefighter. That arrangement maximized how much of the tournament's fundraising reached the foundation rather than event expenses.
The host venue itself has deep roots in Bay Area soccer. Glens Stadium is a FIFA-certified facility built for San Francisco Glens SC, a club founded in 1961 that fields semi-professional teams in USL League Two and USL W League, per Wikipedia. The Glens are the largest soccer club in San Francisco, managing more than 90 youth and adult teams across the city.
A Foundation Born From Personal Loss
The San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation was founded in 2006 by retired Rescue 1 Captain Tony Stefani following his 2001 kidney cancer diagnosis, making it the first nonprofit in the country dedicated exclusively to firefighter cancer prevention, according to FireRescue1. San Francisco Firefighters Local 798 helped get the effort off the ground with an initial $100,000 seed grant in 2006, ensuring the nonprofit could operate independently from fire department management, per the foundation's own account.
The stakes behind the soccer balls and beer donations are grim. More than 400 San Francisco firefighters have died from cancer since 2006, a toll that pushed San Francisco to become the nation's first major fire department to phase out toxic PFAS-containing protective gear, as Hoodline reported in a story on a retired firefighter's insurance fight. Occupational cancer is now recognized as the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths in the U.S. fire service, a reality that makes early screening funding, like what the Golden Gate Invitational supports, a persistent need rather than a one-time ask.
Partners With Long Histories in the Department
Los Bomberos de San Francisco, one of the tournament's co-sponsors, was established in 1986 as an association of Hispanic and Latino SFFD firefighters supporting community youth initiatives, car shows, and charitable relief. The group marked its 40th anniversary of community service this year. SF Fire Credit Union, another sponsor, was founded by firefighters in 1951 and has grown into a member-owned cooperative with roughly $1.6 billion in assets serving 73,000 members across San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin counties, according to Tyfone.
Local 798, which represents rank-and-file San Francisco firefighters and paramedics, has also been busy on the labor front this year, finalizing a four-year memorandum of understanding with the City and County of San Francisco in May that secured a 14% wage increase. That agreement closed out a round of public safety labor negotiations even as the union kept its charitable commitments on the field. Together, the mix of unions, community associations, and financial cooperatives behind the Golden Gate Invitational reflects a broader pattern in San Francisco, where firefighter cancer has become both a labor issue and a cause that spans agencies well beyond city limits.
