SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Mia Gómez Solis was beaming as she returned home from the thrill of a lifetime.
“Mommy, I got to go with the captain!” the 7-year-old from Oakland said as she described being among the two dozen kids who walked onto the field with the players before a World Cup match last week at Levi’s Stadium. “I can’t believe it. He held my little hand and we walked out. And I can’t believe there were so many people. Mom, did you see me? I smiled at the camera so you would see me.”
Mayda Solis Cano saw her girl.
She was watching on television at home as Mia and other children held hands with players from Australia and Paraguay on Thursday night.
“I was recording, but I was trembling,” Mayda told the Bay Area News Group in Spanish a day after the 0-0 draw. “I couldn’t believe my daughter was there.”
If you’ve watched the pageantry of the World Cup, you’ve no doubt seen the kids.
In the minutes before a match, they pair up with the players in the stadium tunnel and then — as electricity and anticipation build among the crowd and for television viewers around the globe — they escort them to the middle of the field for the playing of each country’s national anthem.
But where do the kids come from? And how are they chosen?
As you’ve probably noticed by now, everything FIFA does for the World Cup has a sponsor. The same applies to the program that connects FIFA to children’s organizations for the pre-match ritual.
Quaker is the sponsor for this year’s Player Escort Program. In the United States, it has given 1,400-plus children from marginalized communities in or near the 11 host cities a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to walk professional players onto the pitch,” organizers say.
Oakland’s Soccer Without Borders Bay Area and San Francisco’s Street Soccer USA Bay Area and America SCORES are the youth programs being used to provide kids for World Cup matches at Levi’s Stadium, which will culminate with the U.S. playing Bosnia and Herzegovina in a round of 32 match on Wednesday.
Ney Lovato is a coach for Soccer Without Borders, a non-profit organization that aims to give largely immigrant youth from underserved areas an avenue for inclusion and personal growth.
She was among the chaperones who accompanied the children on a bus supplied by Quaker from Soccer Without Borders’ offices at International High School in Oakland to Levi’s Stadium for the match between Australia and Paraguay.
The kids became eligible for the honor by participating in a soccer clinic in February that included games and discussion about the importance of proper nutrition.
Lovato estimates that about 120 children attended the clinic, too many for everyone to be selected to walk with the players.
“We ended up deciding by putting all the names in a bowl and then we took names out,” Lovato said. “It was hard, honestly, to choose the right numbers because all the kids were great.”
Some families chose not to participate because of the time commitment. For the match last week, the kids met in Oakland at 11:30 a.m. and returned after the match, which started at 7 p.m. Tickets were not provided for parents, Lovato said.
About 80 kids, most ranging in age from 8 to 11, were selected from Soccer Without Borders.
The tradition of kids escorting players onto the field began during the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, eight years after the last time the global spectacle was last held in the United States.
The experience is something the kids might never forget.
Lovato heard many of the children’s stories, including one from a girl named Elizabeth that particularly stood out.
“She was like, ‘Oh my God, I saw the players come in and one stood by my side. He held my hand and I felt something that I can’t describe. I wanted to cry. I can’t believe I was here.’”
“Seeing her face and the smile that she had on it, it’s hard to describe,” Lovato said. “But she was talking about it the whole time. Seeing all that and hearing all that, the whole game they had so much energy. They were cheering for both teams.”
Mia, the 7-year-old from Soccer Without Borders, walked out with the Australian team. Her mother, who is from Guatemala, said she wished she could have been at the stadium but ticket costs were too expensive.
“I don’t have enough money to go,” Mayda said.
Goalkeeper Mathew Ryan, who plays for Levante of Spain’s top league LaLiga, was the Australian captain for the match against Paraguay.
“I can’t believe I walked out with the captain of Australia,” said Mia, a forward and goalkeeper on her team. “He just came over and grabbed my little hand.”
The only thing better for Mia would have been walking out with her favorite team Portugal and player Cristiano Ronaldo.
Or playing in a World Cup herself.
“I would love it very much,” she said.