A large crowd of approximately 64,146 people gathered at Gillette Stadium for the FIFA World Cup, in Foxborough last Friday to watch the match between France and Norway.
Among them was a group of 16 eager Island soccer fans from the Martha’s Vineyard Boys & Girls Club and four chaperones, who stood out in the stands with their matching World Cup–themed bright blue shirts.
Chaperones Kendall Robinson, Mike Daniel, Ana Julia da Silva, Ana de Paula, and a diverse group of club members, who ranged in age from 6 to 14 and whose families hailed from France and Brazil, representing a true cross-section of the diversity of Martha’s Vineyard, traveled to the stadium and spent the day cheering loudly for the French team as they won the game and three points. Robinson, who is also the program director at the Martha’s Vineyard Boys & Girls Club, said the whole experience was riveting for the students, who were chosen by the club’s staff with the intent of bringing Island youth of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.
Robinson grew up going to the same Boys & Girls Club for afterschool programs, and said those memories made the experience more special.
“When I was a kid, I came to this club,” Robinson said in an interview with The Times. “Now that I’m older, and I look back at the experiences that it provided me, I’m like, ‘Oh, wow.’”
This trip extended beyond soccer, Robinson said, and fostered new friendships and a stronger sense of community among the group. Robinson said the students see one another every day, but don’t necessarily mingle that often. That changed in Foxborough, which during the World Cup has been referred to on global television feeds as “Boston Stadium.”
“It was such a ‘togetherness’ experience that France would score, and all of a sudden, all of our kids were jumping up and hugging each other and high-fiving, and just celebrating and yelling at each other, saying, ‘Oh, did you see that?’ It’s like you would have thought these kids spend every second of every day together with how much joy they were sharing with one another,” she said.
The entire excursion was also a surprise to the selected youth by Boys & Girls Club staff.
“They had no idea they were going,” Robinson said. “We had sunglasses for them that looked like soccer balls. And they were like, ‘What are these for?’ and then we put up on the big screen, ‘We’re going to the World Cup!’”
The trip was made possible through collaboration between the office of Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, the state Boys & Girls Club, the Department of Children and Families (DCF), Airbnb, and other community organizations across the state, with 1,100 tickets donated to Massachusetts youth programs.
“The World Cup is coming to Massachusetts, and we want young people from every corner of our state to have the chance to be part of it,” Healey said in a press release. “These tickets will help make sure that kids who otherwise may never have the opportunity to attend a match can experience the excitement of the world’s biggest sporting event. We want to spread that opportunity as widely as possible, create memories that will last a lifetime, and inspire children across the state to dream big and chase their goals.”
Between the seven FIFA matches hosted in the state, a total of 704 tickets will be distributed through the Massachusetts Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs, which will coordinate regional distribution across Massachusetts. The remaining 396 tickets (out of the 1,100 total tickets donated) will be distributed through state community organizations represented in the World Cup matches, along with youth involved in the DCF.
Robinson said she deeply appreciated the opportunity. “We’re so grateful for Gov. Healey and the Massachusetts Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs because, of course, without them, this trip wouldn’t have been possible,” she said.
“I just hope they remember how cool of an experience it was — that they realize that Boys & Girls Clubs offer so much more than just childcare,” she added.
The young attendees also got a backstage pass at the game.
“They all got special badges that they got to keep as a souvenir, that says that they went to the World Cup. We got to walk through an activity tent where all kids were allowed to take a picture with the match ball, and then got to see all the signed jerseys,” Robinson said.
The global atmosphere of the event, Robinson said, contributed to the children’s understanding of different cultures beyond their backgrounds. The trip was a success in cultural exchange, Robinson said. The children were excited to experience the famous Norwegian cheer that mimics Vikings rowing and chanting in unison.
“And what’s so beautiful for our club anyway is that we are so diverse within our own walls here. So even just the kids that we brought, it was exciting,” Robinson said. “Some kids had family that were from France, or a lot of our kids had a Brazilian Portuguese background.
“Being in that stadium and seeing how many people are also enthusiastic and excited about the sport, the kids were just so excited to be in there,” she said.