Updated
San Diego, CA
Soccer Star Alex Morgan Adds Key to City to Titles, Awards Collected in Storied Career
San Diego leaders Thursday presented soccer star Alex Morgan with the key to the city, acknowledging her athletic contributions and advocacy for equal pay in women’s sports.
“Very few athletes rise to the level of world champion. Even fewer people change what future generations see as possible. Alex Morgan is both,” said City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera. “Thanks to her, young girls are growing up seeing and believing they can be professional athletes and all people are reminded that barriers are meant to be broken.”
He praised Morgan as a “trailblazer” who elevated “(this) beautiful game while raising the profile of U.S. Women’s soccer.” Mayor Todd Gloria called her “a true legend” who had inspired young girls, including his niece.
Gloria and Elo-Rivera, joined by council members Raul Campillo, Joe LaCava and Marni von Wilpert, presented the key to Morgan in a conference room where the former captain of the San Diego Wave also signed memorabilia for her hosts.
On top of her legendary soccer career, @alexmorgan13 has inspired an entire generation of women to push limits and strive for greatness. I joined @MayorToddGloria in delivering Alex a Key to the City and a Proclamation. Excited to see more great work from @AlexMorganFndn in SD! pic.twitter.com/DsKhvKXrTe
— Councilmember Marni von Wilpert (@marnivonwilpert) October 24, 2024
The San Diego City Council earlier proclaimed Sept. 8 as Alex Morgan Day in recognition of her final professional match with the Wave, at Snapdragon Stadium.
“What a ride it’s been,” Morgan told the crowd after the game, in which she played the first 15 minutes before removing her boots, hugging her teammates and walking off the pitch for the final time.
Morgan was acquired by the Wave before the club’s inaugural 2022 season. She scored 23 goals in 51 games for the team.
She scored 123 goals in 224 games with the U.S. national team, which she helped guide to two FIFA Women’s World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019 and an Olympic gold medal in 2012.
The Diamond Bar native played college soccer at Cal and was selected first in the 2011 draft by the Western New York Flash of the defunct Women’s Professional Soccer league. The club won a championship that same year in what turned out to be the league’s final season.
She joined the Portland Thorns in 2013 and helped lead it to a championship in the inaugural season of the National Women’s Soccer League. Morgan played with the Thorns through 2015 when she was traded to the expansion Orlando Pride.
She played in Florida from 2016-2021, interrupted by brief stints with the French first division team Lyon in 2017 and Tottenham Hotspur of England’s Women’s Super League in 2020.
Morgan last year launched the Alex Morgan Foundation, which is dedicated to “creating equity and opportunity on the field and off by supporting girls and women as they find their path in sport and in life,” according to a statement from the foundation.
City News Service contributed to this report.
Why this matters
Located in neighborhoods across the county, community gardens seek to provide resources and educational opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds.
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Tucked into neighborhoods, schoolyards and park edges, community gardens have woven themselves into the fabric of San Diego.
Many are established in food deserts – areas that lack access to affordable and nutritious food. For predominantly low-income and racially diverse communities, a local garden plot can be the difference between having fresh produce or none at all.
Beyond the food, community gardens have become gathering places where social bonds across generations and languages form and environmental education can flourish. From elementary school students to senior citizens, people of all ages are able to tend to plants or participate in community activities hosted onsite.
San Diego County has more than 80 community gardens, according to the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County. Most of them are managed by churches, nonprofits or local volunteers.
However, funding may be running short. The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act led the county to cancel contracts related to CalFresh Healthy Living in October 2025, as previously reported by inewsource. Community gardens were one of the lifestyle programs impacted by these cuts.
Nonprofit leaders have also sounded the alarm about federal cuts causing funding instability that could impact their community programs.
But there are still ways for the community to get involved. Here’s a map maintained by the Master Gardener Association that shows dozens of gardens around the county.
inewsource asked Heather Holland, president of the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County, and Julia Rauner Guerrero, the organization’s community garden chair, to talk about the basics of community gardens.
Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Community gardens vary based on who owns the land but most gardens are spaces where renters of the garden beds have access during set hours. Most gardens have events or times where they open their doors to the public.
Community gardens are spaces where the public can garden or learn about gardening together. There are a few categories of community gardens that could be grouped this way:
- Gardens that include beds or spaces that can be rented for growing.
- Gardens that grow food that is donated to others.
- Gardens that act as learning spaces so the public can learn how to garden together.
- Semi-public spaces where someone from an area (as in a resident of an HOA) can garden in a space.
Most of San Diego’s community gardens fall into one of those categories and often include several of these characteristics. On our community garden map we’ve focused on gardens with individual or shared/cooperative plots, some of which also incorporate education and/or food sharing with the community.
No, generally there isn’t any registration with the county and the cities operate under different rules. Community gardens located on public land have different approaches dictated by their city. For example, in the city of San Diego nonprofit groups can apply to the city to use parks and recreation land for a community garden.
Community gardens are operated by a mix of persons depending on who is running the site. In most cases it is a church, a nonprofit or a group of volunteers who manage the space. A few San Diego cities such as Imperial Beach, Carlsbad and La Mesa oversee their gardens and in other cases the County of San Diego directly operates the community gardens on their property.
Volunteer at your nearby community garden to get a feel for the garden, the people and the management.
Type of Content
Explainer: Provides context or background, definition and detail on a specific topic.
San Diego, CA
Where to watch San Diego Padres vs Seattle Mariners: TV channel, start time, streaming for May 16
What to know about MLB’s ABS robot umpire strike zone system
MLB launches ABS challenge system as players test robot umpire calls in a groundbreaking season.
Baseball is back and finding what channel your favorite team is playing on has become a little bit more confusing since MLB announced plans to produce and distribute broadcasts for nearly a third of the league.
We’re here to help. Here’s everything you need to know Saturday as the San Diego Padres visit the Seattle Mariners.
See USA TODAY’s sortable MLB schedule to filter by team or division.
What time is San Diego Padres vs Seattle Mariners?
First pitch between the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, May 16.
How to watch San Diego Padres vs Seattle Mariners on Saturday
All times Eastern and accurate as of Saturday, May 16, 2026, at 6:32 a.m.
- Matchup: SD at SEA
- Date: Saturday, May 16
- Time: 7:15 p.m. (ET)
- Venue: T-Mobile Park
- Location: Seattle, Washington
- TV: FOX
- Streaming: MLB.TV on Fubo
Watch MLB all season long with Fubo
MLB regional blackout restrictions apply
MLB scores, results
MLB scores for May 16 games are available on usatoday.com . Here’s how to access today’s results:
See scores, results for all of today’s games.
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