Canada Women's Soccer vs Germany June 18th, 2014

I little late on this one but thought I'd blog about it all the same.  So I was contacted by FIFA to come out and volunteer at the soccer match.  I was given the position of Youth Programme Coordinator.  This basically meant I was to organize and manage the young ladies who play on youth soccer teams in the lower mainland to be flag bearers for the opening ceremonies.

I showed up on June 18th and met up with Stephanie and Joy-Ann, who basically run the show.  I was given a black shirt with the Canada Soccer Association logo on it along with a lanyard that gave me an all access match day pass.  This was so I could go on the pitch with the flag bearers without BC Place security on me all the time.

The girls arrived and I took them down to the banquet hall so they could put away their belonging and relax for a bit before we started rehearsals.  When it was time, Curtis, from the CSA, came over and told me to take the girls over to the West Entrance and meet him there.  So I did.  It was there that the girls were split into four groups.  One group held the blue FIFA flag.  The second group held the yellow Fair Play flag.  The last two groups held the Germany and Canada flags.  We set them up in the entrance and showed them how to hold the flag as they walked out.  It was to be held as close as possible to their hips as they walked out.  We were short three girls as they were late, so myself and another volunteer were stand-ins.  I held the flag close to my hip and marched out onto the pitch with the girls when the music started. Then as we struck our poses in the middle of the pitch, we were instructed by Curtis how to get off the pitch and fold our flags.

We did rehearsals two times before the last three girls finally arrived and took their places holding the flag.  I was able to step back and watch the whole rehearsal.  Once the girls were done, we took the girls back to the banquet hall and fed them pizza and energy drinks.  We handed out their shirts to wear onto the pitch as well.  They were given special headbands as a keepsake as they would have to give the jerseys back at the end of the night.

While we waited for the match to start, Steph, Joy-Ann and I talked to the girls and reminded them about being a professional out there and to have fun.  We got to know them a little bit better and they looked relaxed.  When it was time, Steph and I took them to the East Entrance and got them positioned under the tunnel with their flags ready to head out.  The Canadian Women's team were just coming off the pitch so the girls got to see them up close as their locker room was by the tunnel we were standing in.  Once we heard the music go on, we were signaled to send the girls out onto the pitch.  They were wonderful.  Steph and I were so proud of all our girls out there!  We took them back to the banquet room after the opening ceremonies were done and they were handed a ticket so they could go up in the stands and watch the rest of the match from their seats.  They all had a great time.

Steph and I also headed up to the stands to watch some of the game.  Team Germany defeated Canada 2-1 but it was still a really good match.  It was fun seeing the CSA and FIFA crew again.  The last time was when I worked for CONCACF Women's Qualifying Tournament in January 2011.  I hope to work with the crew again for the upcoming Canada vs Japan match on Oct 28th.