SALT LAKE CITY — Youth soccer players walked onto the America First Field alongside soccer icons Diego Luna and Lionel Messi during Wednesday’s Real Salt Lake vs. Inter Miami match.
One of the youth soccer players was seven-year-old Owen Bauman. “I felt really good, and it was really exciting for me,” Bauman said.
He plays with West Jordan Youth Soccer and has been kicking a ball around for four years. He says he’s also been going to Real Salt Lake games since he was just 2 months old.
When FOX 13 News asked how many buckets of popcorn Bauman has gone through since he started going to games, he said, “I don’t know, maybe 20 buckets.”
This time, though, felt different.
Bauman was one of the kids who walked onto the field hand-in-hand with Real Salt Lake star Diego Luna and in the same group with Inter Miami’s icon Lionel Messi, who made his Utah debut on Wednesday.
“Having those kinds of superstars come into the building, it just adds that much more intensity to the match,” Colton Spencer, president of West Jordan Youth Soccer, said.
Players with Legends United, a South Jordan-based youth soccer club, had the opportunity to walk with Real Salt Lake and Inter Miami players, too. “They were jumping up at me like, ‘I high-fived Messi, Messi spoke to me, I’m never going to wash my hand ever again!’” Tim Summerfield, owner of Legends United, said. “That’s something that will stay with them forever, no matter where they go and what they do with their lives. They’ll be telling that to their grandkids.”
It’s a moment that means more than just meeting his favorite players; it’s a glimpse at what could come next. “I feel really good about it, and it means so much to me,” Bauman said.
