Houlton soccer players, fans of all ages — with the youngest fan, Leo Tweedie, being seven months old — took part in a once in a lifetime opportunity, as they were able to watch the Women’s World Cup in Moncton, N.B.
Tweedie’s father, Tim, and his mom, Erica, helped to organize the event.
“We had entire families along for the trip,” he said. “A World Cup has not been held in North America since 1999, so this was a very unique opportunity to have the games so close to home. I’m sure it is something we will always remember.”
The Women’s World Cup tournament is held every four years and this year, Canada was chosen as the host country, with six cities selected for games — Vancouver, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Ottawa, Montreal and Moncton.
On Saturday, June 13, 111 local soccer fans went to see four teams play two games. In the first game, Colombia, ranked 31st in the world, upset one of the tournament favorites, France, ranked fourth, by a score of 2-0.
The second game featured No. 7 England against No. 14 Mexico, with England pulling out a hard fought, 2-1 victory.
The young Houlton players and fans started their day at 7 a.m., loading onto two charter buses. After the three-hour ride, filled with movies, trivia and door prizes, the group made a pit stop at the local shopping mall before heading to the stadium.
“At the games, the atmosphere was great,” said Tweedie. “The environment was festive with people playing drums and singing songs about their team. We did some face painting and handed out flags and temporary tattoos that represented the four countries playing. It didn’t matter which team scored, our group stood up and cheered whenever anything exciting happened. We were just there to see good soccer.”
