{"id":41547,"date":"2019-01-16T11:17:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T20:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/sports\/dream-come-true-8-year-old-wins-trip-to-super-bowl\/"},"modified":"2019-01-19T14:59:06","modified_gmt":"2019-01-19T23:59:06","slug":"dream-come-true-8-year-old-wins-trip-to-super-bowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/home2\/dream-come-true-8-year-old-wins-trip-to-super-bowl\/","title":{"rendered":"Dream come true: 8-year-old wins trip to Super Bowl"},"content":{"rendered":"

One Juneau kid’s dreams came true on live national TV this week.<\/p>\n

Camdyn Clancy appeared on ABC’s morning talk show “Good Morning America” Tuesday as the unexpected grand-prize winner of the NFL PLAY 60 Super Kid contest, which grants him an all-expense paid trip to Atlanta next month to cover Super Bowl LIII.<\/p>\n

As part of the deal, Clancy — who is 8 years old, a third-grader and who has played the past four seasons in the Juneau Youth Football League — will deliver the official game ball to the officiating crew just prior the start of the game.<\/p>\n

NFL PLAY 60, a campaign centered on 60 minutes of daily physical activity, received several hundred entries for the contest, according to a press release<\/a>. To apply, kids created short videos sharing their football story. Clancy’s filmed his in mid-November in front of the Mendenhall Glacier, and highlighted his dedication to the sport: “I play every single day outside.”<\/p>\n

In his first season of tackle football last fall, Clancy’s team, the Tigers, won the Cub Division championship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“To go to the Super Bowl was always my dream,” Clancy said Wednesday by phone from New York City. “’I’ve always asked my parents, ‘Can we go to the Super Bowl one day?’ and they’re like, ‘Well, it’s too much money.’”<\/p>\n

Clancy’s mom, Hannah, said she never thought their son would win the contest.<\/p>\n

“We didn’t think he really had a chance,” Hannah Clancy said. “But as a parent, we wanted him to know that we supported him no matter what. But most importantly, (the) life lesson we were trying to get him to learn was if you want something, it’s all about the try, so still go for it.”<\/p>\n

She added that “the fact that we actually submitted it and he won is pretty unreal. We’re still trying to soak it all in, even the last 24, 48 hours, all the places that we’ve gone and the shows that he’s been on and the people that he’s met, we’re exhausted.”<\/p>\n

The NFL revealed the big news to Hannah and her husband two weeks ago. They were asked to keep it a secret until Clancy could make his debut on Good Morning America.<\/p>\n