For two 11-year-olds in Pleasant Grove, a summer of soccer just got very real.
Benjamin Torres and Renato Graca Jr., students at Pleasant Grove Elementary, are among 38 children selected for the FIFA World Cup 26 Player Escort Program in North Texas.
The program will allow the students to walk onto the field alongside top soccer players before four World Cup matches this summer.
“I love the game because I’ve been playing since I was 3 years old,” Benjamin said.
Benjamin and Renato were chosen after taking part in a series of free soccer clinics hosted earlier this year at W.W. Samuell High School by Pleasant Grove Soccer & Sports. Students from eight elementary schools joined the clinics.
Organisers said students were picked for more than soccer skills. They also looked at sportsmanship, attendance, citizenship, and involvement in nutrition and wellness programs linked to the clinics.
“This opportunity is like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Renato said. “In the whole world there’s like a billion kids that really don’t get to do this.”
Pleasant Grove Soccer & Sports was one of three Dallas-area nonprofits selected for the FIFA program, along with Puede Network and Jubilee Park and Community Center.
For some of the students, the news still has not fully sunk in.
“I was kind of upset I had to keep it a secret for a while,” Benjamin said.
The children will escort players onto the field during four World Cup matches hosted in North Texas.
“That’s going to be you right there, France, that’s just insane,” one student said while watching videos of past World Cup player escorts.
Steve Davis, director of Pleasant Grove Soccer & Sports, said the chance goes beyond soccer.
“I think it’s important that this community gets seen,” Davis said.
Davis said opportunities tied to global events like the World Cup are often more accessible to wealthier or better-connected communities.
“I’ve had this opportunity, I’ve been to 5 world cups. To see these kids in this community, that doesn’t really get to get seen a lot, man. it means everything,” Davis said.
The initiative is part of a broader youth program supported by Quaker Oats Company and Common Goal, aimed at connecting young people across the country to FIFA World Cup experiences.
Pleasant Grove Soccer & Sports is a nonprofit that focuses on expanding access to soccer in the underserved Pleasant Grove community through free and low-cost camps, clinics and coaching programs.
“It will be like a dream come true,” Benjamin said.
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