Photos: Rocketeers star in Avaya Stadium’s ‘Best Game Ever’

by Nikki David, Associate Editor, Beyond

Education can take you anywhere. In this case, excellent writing skills led a few lucky Rocketeers to the soccer game of their dreams – where they were the stars! Many Rocketeers play in San Jose’s New Stars soccer league, an external league created for Rocketship students by Rocketship Enrichment Center Coordinators. While checking out the San Jose Earthquakes‘s locker room, on what they thought was just a tour of the brand new Avaya Stadium, Rocketeers found out they had won the essay contest on why they deserved to play in the ‘Best Game Ever’.

As they changed into new kits, courtesy of the stadium, the New Stars got ready to face the Richmond Sol – another U-10 youth team that had also won the essay contest. Both teams enjoyed all the excitement of a Major League Soccer game, including full team introductions, media coverage, halftime entertainment and a crowd of cheering fans. Earthquakes players Jordan Stewart and Tomas Gomez even served as honorary assistant coaches for each team! While the New Stars played hard and persisted through a tough game, they eventually fell to the Sol zero-to-one. As the team huddled with their coaches after the game though, the New Stars shared how grateful they were to live the opportunity of a lifetime.

Catch our snaps from the game and relive all the excitement:

Share more awesome Rockeeter experiences ➟ @RocketshipEd

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A member of the Rocketship Network Support Team, Nikki came to Rocketship to help close stark inequalities in education and build the innovative schools of the future. Mentoring and tutoring throughout South Los Angeles showed her the transformational power of learning, and she is inspired every day by Rocketeers’ bright spirits and boundless potential. She earned her B.A. in Communication and Communication Design from the University of Southern California. Her other hobbies include indulging in her fitness addiction, planning her next D.I.Y. project and getting lost in new places.

Follow Nikki on Twitter: @plaincrash

Published on November 2, 2015