HERSHEY - It's obvious he'd rather be in Russia right now playing in the World Cup. With the United States on the outside looking in, the next best thing for Hershey's Christian Pulisic is a visit to his hometown. He traded World Cup stickers with local kids and helped coach them at a soccer clinic.
"To me, it means everything, especially being in Hershey. I'm here just to share any knowledge I have with these kids and just to inspire them," explained Pulisic.
"I do know that he`s pretty good on the U.S. men`s team," admitted Milton Hershey School 10th grader Imoi Lomodong. "It was a cool experience to see a professional player because I kind of want to be a soccer player when I grow up."
Pulisic is still only 19-years old but he`s already grown into the biggest name in United States soccer. He spent part of his morning coaching 8 to 13-year old kids from the Milton Hershey School along with children of employees at The Hershey Company.
"I have two teenage sons so I'm always reminding myself that Christian is only 19 with such a tremendous path ahead of him," confessed Hershey Company Vice President Leigh Horner. "It's great and we've gotten to know him, he's so humble and yet such a force in world soccer. It's just fantastic."
Jason Howarth is the V.P. of Marketing for Panini America. Pulisic's appearance was sponsored by Panini as they showcase their popular World Cup stickers. Howarth insists that Pulisic's name is one of the most recognizable in their collection and is growing rapidly in popularity.
"For Christian to be the first soccer guy we sign as an exclusive athlete on the soccer side along with Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, Andrew Luck and Leonard Fournette to name a few is really big for us," said Howarth. "It's a big statement for us as it relates to soccer, it's a big statement for where Christian's game is."