One of my favorite memories as a kid is of attending a World Cup soccer game in Orlando with my dad. It was so exciting to see so many fans from all over the world gather in the Citrus Bowl to cheer passionately for their favorite team and players. The passionate soccer fan spectrum ranges from the flag wielding, face painted hard core easily as excited as he is angered fan, to the kids with hot dogs happy to see their idols kicking the ball around in person, to the older fans crying at the loss of their country’s team. I’ve attended many professional sports game and nothing can hold a torch to the feeling in that stadium on that day.

Soccer has never held the attention in the United States that it has in other countries, but we now have the chance to bring it back in 2018 and 2022. If your city is on the short list of 27 cities still in the running to have the honor of hosting the World Cup, you can give it a nudge by signing this petition here.

If it’s not, maybe you can be persuaded to put in a vote for mine – Jacksonville.