Twenty-two young soccer players from Yellowknife helped escort the Columbian and U.S. soccer teams onto the field at the FIFA Women's World Cup game in Edmonton yesterday.

"To be honest, I was really nervous walking with a player, looking around and seeing how big it actually was," 10-year-old Sage Acorn told CBC's Wanda McLeod.

The team of 6- to 10-year-olds was in Edmonton for a tournament, and so the coaches decided to purchase tickets to Monday night's game between the U.S. and Columbia.

That's when FIFA organizers contacted them to ask if they could supply the players to escort the teams onto the field.

It's a FIFA tradition to have national players walk onto the field at World Cup Games, hand-in-hand with an aspiring young soccer player.

Sundogs coach Joe Acorn his players performed well on the field, despite their nerves.

"There was about 20,000 people there; that's more than what's in Yellowknife," he said.

"They were given some clear instructions about what to do and what not to do and how they were to behave, and they did a really good job when they were out there."

Not every member of the Sundogs team got to go the field, however.

Anyone over 140 centimetres tall wasn't allowed to escort a player, because of a FIFA rule that ensures the faces of national players aren't blocked from the cameras by a tall child.

But they all got new uniforms out of the deal, and a chance to meet a number of FIFA's female stars, including Abby Wambach, the captain of the U.S. team, who has competed in four World Cups and two Olympics.

"Certainly they experienced something they'll never forget," says Acorn.

"They were pretty thrilled."