Surrey students take to the pitch for historic opportunities at FIFA World Cup
It's the largest sporting event in the world, watched by billions and dreamt of by so many. And for a group of Surrey Schools students, it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be part of sports history.
With FIFA World Cup matches taking place in Vancouver, students from across the district were granted an extraordinary opportunity to take part in FIFA's Player Escort Program, walking hand-in-hand with the world's best players as they accompany each team onto the field at BC Place.
The opportunity came about through Surrey Schools' Community-Schools Partnership (CSP) department and its ongoing work with Canada SCORES, which delivers inclusive soccer programming each year to underserved students in the district.
When Common Goal, an international youth soccer organization, teamed up with Canada SCORES to run the World Cup escort program, Surrey students were first in line.
"We were very fortunate with that," said James Daniels, program facilitator with CSP. "Any students already in the program got priority, and so already being with Canada SCORES, we were able to send as many kids as could make it, which ended up being around 95."
The 95 students selected come from several Surrey schools, all from programs serving students and families who wouldn't otherwise have the chance to take part in team sports.
“The excitement from the kids and their families has been amazing,” said Daniels. “With this program, we’re usually able to take kids to the Whitecaps games, but this is on a whole other level.”
That next-level experience started early on match days, when students are bussed directly from Surrey to BC Place, where they spend the hours before kickoff in their own green room stocked with catered food, drinks and video game consoles running the latest FIFA game. After walking onto the pitch alongside the players, the students watched the match from the lower bowl, the best seats in the stadium.
Surrey students participated in six of the seven matches being held in Vancouver for this year’s World Cup, which included Canada’s historic match against Qatar on June 18, where the host-nation secured its first-ever World Cup win.
Wherever possible, Daniels said, organizers also tried to pair schools and students with matches that would mean the most to them.
"For the Egypt vs. New Zealand game, we really pushed for Hjorth Road Elementary to take part in that one because there's a large Egyptian population at that school," said Daniels. "So those kids got to walk out with Egypt and Mo Salah (Mohamed Salah), for their historic first-win match as well."
Those are the moments Daniels hopes will stay with the students long after the tournament leaves Vancouver.
"We're just so thankful to Canada SCORES and Common Goal for these opportunities," he said. "These experiences will be lifetime memories for these children. They got to participate in historic sporting events, and you can never put a price on that kind of experience."
