Perth Amboy Girls' Soccer Team Gets Free Tickets To See Monday Night's World Cup Match

PERTH AMBOY, NJ — This June, children in 18 New Jersey towns were given tickets to World Cup games — and one of the towns selected was Perth Amboy.

The girls of the under-15 soccer team for the Perth Amboy Rec Dept. thought they were just showing up for a routine practice last Tuesday afternoon, June 16.

Instead, when the teenage girls arrived at Thomas Mundy Peterson Park they were told the entire team would be going to watch the Norway vs. Senegal FIFA World Cup game at MetLife stadium.

The game kicks off at 8 o'clock Monday night.

Yes, these local teenage girls will watch for free an elite global-level soccer match where the average tickets are currently selling for more than $1,000 on secondary markets.

The surprise was made possible through a statewide initiative led by Gov. Mikie Sherrill's office to expand access to FIFA World Cup.

Sherrill and the state of New Jersey have several different programs by which free tickets are being distributed:

Hackensack Meridian Health Care is providing 770 tickets for New Jersey children with chronic illnesses and healthcare workers. Tickets are also being given out by New Jersey Youth Soccer to youth recreational soccer teams in 18 underprivileged cities across the state, such as New Brunswick and Trenton.

The Perth Amboy girls got their tickets thanks to the Raritan Bay Area YMCA, in partnership with Airbnb. Perth Amboy's Recreation Department worked with New Jersey Youth Soccer to identify the U15 girls' team as recipients, while the Raritan Bay Area YMCA helped set up the delivery and presentation of the tickets.

"Watching these girls' faces when they realized what was happening is a memory none of us will forget," said Steve Jobin, President/CEO of Raritan Bay Area YMCA. "Moments like this remind us why partnerships across our community matter — they turn a single gesture into an experience these kids will carry with them for the rest of their lives."

"These girls show up to practice, work hard, and represent Perth Amboy with pride every single day — and now they get to watch the best players in the world do the same thing on the biggest stage there is," said Perth Amboy Mayor Helmin Caba. "This is exactly the kind of opportunity we want for our young people: a chance to dream bigger because of where they're from, not in spite of it."

Related: Free World Cup Tickets Being Given To Children In These 18 NJ Towns (June 22)