“Call me. I've got a fun idea.” Here's how I, a small-town Missouri educator, play my favorite April Fool's Day pranks on my favorite Sporting Kansas City player and another Sporting Kansas City player. These words were the trigger for my involvement.
Eight years ago, if you asked me to hire multiple video production people, a sound person, a Sporting Kansas City PR person, an intern, a cameraman, and two players to shoot video around my small school district, If you had asked me if I was going to tag along, I never would have told you. A million years.
To really start this story, I think we need to go back to January 2020, when I first had the opportunity to work with Sporting. I received a message from Sporting on Twitter asking if I would be interested in an interview about my life as a fan and my experiences at the club. That message led me to appear in a television commercial for Sporting Kansas City. They came to the school, interviewed me for a few hours, filmed me, and it ran on TV and social media as a cool short 30-second commercial. It was a great experience and really gave me something great to share with my students.
Four years later, I suddenly received an email at work from Rob Thomson, Sporting Kansas City's chief communications officer. The email said: “Hello Stacey. If you have time, could you please call me at (enter your phone number here)?” Here's a fun idea (and involves Daniel). thank you. “
For those who don't know me. I have a long history (since 2017!) of being Daniel Saloy's biggest fan, aside from my family. I was lucky enough to get to know him a little bit over the years. Last year he was kind enough to visit my classroom and spend time with his students answering questions, playing games, signing autographs, and taking a million photos. He gave it to me. . He has been excessively and unnecessarily kind to me. I participate in almost everything related to Daniel Saroj.
Today was a very good day!Thank you very much @Daniel Saroj My students have memories that will last a lifetime. pic.twitter.com/lXWcxmcuNs
— Stacey Fulk (@Sfulk13) October 25, 2022
So I got really nervous and called Rob and told him about this “fun idea”. I immediately felt that I was completely unable to do what he was asking me to do, but if Sporting called, I would answer. So we started planning to prank Jake Davis.
The plan was for Jake to come to my class and talk about being a Sporting player, give me some advice, tell me how he got to this point, etc. All of this was based on the premise that it was a community effort by a large Sporting teacher. fan. The problem may be that the students didn't want Jake to be there, but instead wanted to know about Daniel. Not only did they ask questions about Daniel and wear Daniel Saroj jerseys, they also competed with Jake in math and spelling contests to prove how smart they were and he wasn't.
It was a very mean idea, but we agreed to it. I'm currently a school librarian, so I don't have my own class, so I chose students I've had in the past who I thought would do well. Those who are excited to be there and don't stop pranking Jake for the first few minutes after he arrives.
We met several times in front of school in the weeks leading up to the prank. Students helped think of questions, spell words, and memorize math problems. They got permission from the adults in the house to show up to school when they didn't need to be there. They were all in from the beginning and it paid off. The teacher, on the other hand, was very nervous. I saw all these shenanigans that Sporting had pulled in the past and it felt like all the pressure was on me to pull this off.
The afternoon before the prank day, I told my mother and sister that they would come to school on Sunday, remove all the sports classroom decorations from the library, move them to the classroom I had rented, and make it completely as I was teaching. I asked them to redecorate it. I'm there every day. We moved posters, flags, photos and scarves. I brought signed jerseys and soccer balls and made them all mine. The room was ready, but was I ready?
I believed in my kids and even in the plan, but when the morning of Monday, March 25th arrived, I was so anxious to get everything started. I had to teach some classes that morning, but by the time 11:00 rolled around, all systems were down. The video production and audio guys arrived a few hours before Jake and set up a bunch of cameras, some big, some small, some in other rooms. They laid cables in the middle school hallway and hooked me up to a microphone. Sports interns and photographers also participated. I don't even know who else was there besides the PR guy and me, but the room quickly filled up with people. They were so good and fast that I was really starting to think maybe we could make this happen.
Daniel Saloy then arrived with Rob, the mastermind behind the incident, and another Sporting spokesperson. I would take them from my office to my room and it would all be over there. Daniel readied his microphone, went to a secret location down the hall in another classroom, and waited. He had the audio set up and a monitor so he and Jake could hear and see everything going on in the room. There he waited for the signal and headed in our direction.
Jake arrived around 1 o'clock. He came over and was very kind and spoke to me very carefully about how he became a Sporting player and the path he has taken. He talked to kids about what it takes to get there and the importance of being passionate about what you love. He gave them a really great speech. And all I could think about in the back of my mind was how the kids he was so nice to were going to attack him.
And boy did they! They started asking questions only about Daniel. Have you been to his house? What does he drive? What is Daniel's favorite food? Is he the best player on the team? What is Daniel's best goal ever? It lasted a while. Then I entered the conversation very apologetically and steered us away from those questions. So they could ask Jake questions about other people and embarrass me? Next, they taught Jake math problems and spelling words that he already knew the answers to and had memorized. Jake passed his question to one of his kids, rolled it and spelled it out, even though it was wrong, and quickly came up with the answer for us, but Jake didn't need to know that. .
After it was proven that Jake was actually no smarter than a middle schooler (he cheated and already knew all the answers), they started asking Daniel more questions. That was Levi's cue to stab the knife in, saying, “This is a little lame,'' in a really casual manner. I thought Daniel Saloy would be here,” and the chants of “We Want Daniel” started. I apologized profusely to Jake and tried to look horrified and embarrassed, trying to get his kids to stop. Of course they didn't stop. They were told by me and the Sporting staff to keep going no matter what, and they did.
Jake was looking pretty low at this point, ready to bolt as he walked Daniel. The children flock to him, leaving Jake in the dust. Daniel eventually rescues Jake from a dire situation and exposes him as an April Fool's prank. I immediately apologized to Jake and explained that we were actually big fans and good people and didn't want to be so mean, but the team made us do it.
This was just a normal school visit – at least that’s what Jake thought 😉
I especially appreciate @sfulk13 And West Platte Middle School also helped out with an April Fool's Day prank! pic.twitter.com/ke7tcqc23O
— Sports Kansas City (@SportingKC) April 1, 2024
Throughout our entire visit, Jake was the best person. He sat there and answered all the questions about Daniel. He enthusiastically participated in the competition, never leaving his seat or just watching. He interacted with his students even when they were being actively rude. He laughed it off in the end and congratulated us all on a good outcome. They signed autographs and took pictures.
I was so proud of those kids that day. They've done it. All the things they were being asked to do. I was so proud of myself because boy did I really step out of my comfort zone! And that day I felt very proud to be a Sporting fan. Because the players on the team proved once again that while they are athletes and great players on the soccer pitch, they are actually really kind, fun, and stand-up quality players. .
Daniel Saloy had already won my heart (and, let's be honest, the hearts of most of my students) before this day, but among myself and 15 middle school students, Jake Davis You'll have a new big fan of , and you'll remember that day. They must be a small part of something big.
All the worrying morning practices, emails and phone calls, and meetings were all worth it in the end. The video turned out great. I had the opportunity to create memories for myself and some of my students. This day was just one example of why I love this team and am a part of this fandom. And like I said before, if I hear from Sporting Kansas City again, I'll be there!