It was late last November when Tanner Johnson, Junior at Sapulpa High, got the text message saying he’d been invited to play soccer in the United World Games.
He promptly ignored it.
“I didn’t read it for several hours, thinking it was a scam,” he told Sapulpa Times in an interview on Monday evening.
Turned out, it was a legitimate offer. The United World Games, is an olympic-style event whose goal is “to connect young athletes from all around the world through their common passion in sports.” And much like the olympics, Tanner was being asked to go to Klagenfurt, Austria to join other players from across the country and represent the USA in this event that will feature teams from around the globe.
Tanner told his parents and they all worked to find out if anyone else had been invited. The only person they could find was someone in Owasso who had played several years ago. She confirmed that yes, it’s legit, and yes, it was amazing.
Tanner is still trying to come to terms with it being real. “It just came out of nowhere,” he said. “Feels really good, I wasn’t expecting it.”
Tanner seems like he’s had all the experience necessary to make it to a big game like this. Playing soccer since he was four, he began competing when he was eight, and has played the last three years as a center midfielder for Sapulpa High School. Tanner says he feels like he’s being playing soccer “forever.” Last summer he went to Mexico with other players from his club and practiced with a professional team, giving him his first real taste of playing internationally.
The game happens in mid-June, and the trip will start on the 18th when they leave from New York City and fly to Munich, Germany, and then on to Klagenfurt, Austria. An official itinerary says the team will also spend some time seeing Italy after the game.
Tanner and his parents are currently working to raise the $4600 needed to attend this trip. You can help by checking out the GoFundMe page here.
