This past weekend, I watched the
Major League Soccer (MLS) playoffs with some friends who have not watched very
much soccer. When the game was
about to begin and the players walked onto the field holding the hands of
little kids, one of my friends asked me why they did that. I started thinking and finally asked
myself, “Why do they do that?”
I have always seen kids walking
out of the tunnels with players, and I have always thought how cool it would
have been to be one of those kids growing up. But I never asked myself
why. Are these children the sons
and daughters of the players or employees of the organization? Perhaps these children are youth league
players from the local community?
Or, does the MLS have these kids out there to
defuse tension between players prior to the start of the battle on the pitch? Either way, I like to watch the kids
walk out with the players. The
smiles on their faces, and the excitement that you can see, provide a lifetime
of memories that most people only dream about.
When I researched this question,
I found answers that went along with all of the questions I stated above. The most widely found answer that I
came across was that the players were from local youth teams and some were even
players from the organizations youth academy team. This seems to be the most likely answer considering soccer
greats like Wayne Rooney once walked onto the field as a youngster.
Whatever the answer is, I hope
that soccer never gets rid of this tradition. I think it would be great to see
other sports embrace this awesome opportunity for young fans of other sports.
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