The Clearwater Secondary boys soccer team will be going to provincials for the first time ever with an assist from the Vancouver Whitecaps.

In a tweet just before 7 a.m. Wednesday, Mayor Merlin Blackwell said Darren Coates, the principal at Clearwater Secondary School needed to raise another $5,000 to help pay the costs to get the team to Burnaby next month.

About three hours later, he followed it up with an update.

“I love how small the world is on Twitter. A friend from BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology) works for a sports team [and] forwarded my tweet to the Vancouver Whitecaps, and a plan is coming together,” Blackwell said. “I got the big time ‘feels’! So grateful!”

Not long after, the Whitecaps responded on twitter, “Congrats boys! We got you. Tell Darren to check his email.”

Speaking to NL Sports, Coates says it is a “great story” for the entire community.

“It sounds like they are all in, which is really exciting for the boys. They were flabbergasted, the coach was excited,” he said. “Sometimes social media can be used for negative but this is a great story that’s really made the world smaller and connected this team to the professionals.”

“It’s an exciting thing as you could imagine for some high school students.”

I LOve how small the world is on Twitter. A friend from #BCIT works for a sports team, forwarded my tweet to the @WhitecapsFC, and a plan is coming together. I got the big time “feels”! So grateful! pic.twitter.com/Eugmc86qX9

— Merlin Blackwell, Mayor (@BlackwellMerlin) October 27, 2021

Congrats boys!
We got you. Tell Darren to check his email 📨 https://t.co/WHww6FSJdF

— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) October 27, 2021