A Port St. Lucie teenager named Youth of the Year for the Southeast Region of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America is heading to the FIFA World Cup finals \u2014 and he had no idea it was coming.<\/p>\n
Enrique Rosario Liz was surprised at the Boys & Girls Club of St. Lucie County in Fort Pierce with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: He will serve as one of 12 club members from across the country selected to be an official Coca-Cola flag bearer at the FIFA World Cup finals on July 19.<\/p>\n
The surprise came courtesy of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and their partnership with the Coca-Cola Company.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Boys & Girls Clubs has been my everything,\u201d Rosario Liz said.<\/p>\n
Rosario Liz had already been juggling a packed summer, preparing for move-in at the University of Florida and an internship, but said the World Cup had been on his mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy time is really being taken up by the World Cup right now, forcing my parents to watch every game,\u201d Rosario Liz said.<\/p>\n
When the box containing the news was walked into the room surrounded by fellow club members, Rosario Liz\u2019s reaction was immediate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is crazy. I mean, wow. I mean, this is so insane,\u201d Rosario Liz said.<\/p>\n
Along with the trip, Rosario Liz also received official gear inside the box. He credited the Boys & Girls Club with shaping who he has become as a leader.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe club really helped me to find what my leadership style was going to be, and really redefined what my definition of leadership was,\u201d Rosario Liz said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is such an honor. It has been something so amazing to see how my community sees me as a leader,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Rosario Liz said he feels fortunate for everything that has come his way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are crazy opportunities happening. I mean, I\u2019m just so lucky. I\u2019m so lucky,\u201d Rosario Liz said.<\/p>\n
He closed with a message for the younger members of the club looking up to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease stay with your Boys & Girls Clubs, because one day I want to see each and every one of you in the same position that I am in right now,\u201d Rosario Liz said.<\/p>\n
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Port St. Lucie teenager named Youth of the Year for the Southeast Region of the Boys &…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":["post-336460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}