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Sidekicks game memorable with record score, events

Third-grader Karinna Purser interviews Sagu at Saturday's Dallas Sidekicks game at the Allen Event Center. / Photo by Nick Purser

By Karinna Purser, Guest reporter

Published: Thursday, December 20, 2012 1:57 PM CST

My name is Karinna Purser and I love soccer so much that I play for three teams! I play rec soccer with the Rollie Pollies in the MSA, I play academy soccer with Solar 05 North in the UAL league in Plano, and I play academy soccer with American Eagles 05 North in the CFBAL league in Farmers Branch. I even play soccer during recess at Naomi Press Elementary where I'm a 3rd grader. I like to watch soccer too! My family likes to watch FC Barcelona play on television and my dad has taken me to every home game of the Dallas Sidekicks this year. Last night's game was by far the best ever!

It all started when Coach Kayleen Cleary who coaches my rec team called and asked if I would like to be a student reporter at a Sidekicks game. I was super excited and the very next day one of coach's friends emailed me and told me that I would get to interview a player at the next Sidekick game! So last night my family got to the Sidekicks game early and they were giving away soccer balls at the door! I got a soccer ball and then I got my credentials. Credentials are different than a ticket. Credentials look like a ticket, but it's bigger, has my name on it, and hung around my neck so everyone could see I was important.

We went to the press room where the television announcers watch the game and talk about it. It is super cool in the press room! Any time something exciting happened like the Sidekicks scoring a goal, a stats guy ran around giving everyone a slip of paper with all the information on it. The stats guy was named Bobby, and he was a kid just like me! Bobby ran a lot last night because the Sidekicks scored 21 points! That was a record for most points scored in a single game in Sidekicks history! Actually, last night was a great game for a lot of reasons!

The action on the field was great and the Sidekicks were in the lead the whole game. My soccer coach, Coach Melissa with the American Eagles, would be proud of them because they played possession soccer like she always tells us to do. The Sidekicks led 3-0 after the first quarter and in the second quarter they scored 7 goals which tied another record for scoring the most goals in a quarter. The Sidekicks led 10-0 at halftime and my dad was super excited because if the Sidekicks score at least 10 points and win the game everyone in attendance gets a free milkshake from the Purple Cow restaurant. My dad likes milkshakes as much as I do!

At half time the Sidekicks retired a number. This guy named David Doyle who played for the Sidekicks a long time ago was being honored and they aren't going to let any other player wear his #11 jersey ever again. They called him the Wild Thing and played a video of him playing in the old days and when he scored he pulled his jersey off and ran around the field with no shirt on! Now I know why they call him Wild Thing! When talking to the crowd he cried and that's how you know when a player is proud of themselves.

Halftime was also time to get some food so my mom and I shared a corn dog. That corn dog was like a foot long and it was good. I like my corn dog with ketchup, but mom doesn't. She's weird like that. The rest of the game went just like the first half and the Sidekicks won 21-1! It was a great game for Sidekicks fans because every time they score they throw a ball AND a shirt to the fans. That means over 40 people took a souvenir home plus the Sidekicks stay after the game and sign autographs for anyone who wants one. I got my soccer ball signed by lots of players too!

After the game I went down to the field where I got to interview # 1, Sagu who is the goalkeeper for the Sidekicks. He has been playing soccer for 24 years! I didn't know anyone who played soccer that long, but he said in Brazil, where he is from, they put a soccer ball in your hands when you're born. Sagu is a great goalkeeper and you can tell he is the leader on the pitch. That's what they call a soccer field. I asked him what it takes to be a great soccer player and he said you have to practice a lot and never give up. When I asked him how it feels to win a championship he smiled really big and said it was the greatest feeling ever! My teams have won tournaments so I know how good it feels to be the best. Sagu is very nice and he smiled a lot. I got my picture taken with him and he even let my sister get in the picture.

Before the game started the Sidekicks had a moment of silence in memory of Armando Valdivia who died from ALS disease. He was born in 1970 and died in 2012. He played for the Sidekicks and even scored the game-winning shorthanded goal in overtime in the final game of the 2001 championships. I'm going to work hard, never give up, and maybe one day I'll score the game-winning goal in a championship game and everyone will remember me.

After I talked to a lot of the players and got my ball signed by them it was time to go home. While walking to our car from the arena we stopped and got some yogurt at Yumilicious. I love the Allen Event Center because you can eat dinner, go to a Sidekicks game or hockey game, and stop for yogurt without ever getting into your car. I want to thank Miss Shelley at Star Newspaper and Miss Melissa with the Sidekicks for letting me be a student reporter. This was the best game ever!

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