Party like a Panther: Kid birthday style

Cooper, my football-obsessed little boy was invited to his best bud’s birthday party on Sunday at THE Stadium. Did you know you can host children’s birthdays there? Way cool, right?

The party folks were greeted by the nicest tour guides at a small private entrance — like ‘Chick-fil-A customer service’ nice.

The birthday party itself was fantastic. The kids played in the Play60 space on the 200 level concourse. They ran routes, kicked field goals and tried on real-deal player helmets, pads and jerseys. Okay, so did I:

Sirr Purr arrived on his Purr-Cart and the kids went nuts! After pictures and autographs, Sirr threw passes and let all the kids score touchdowns – with a ‘dab’ for good measure. The kids had a blast and Cooper made sure to mouth to me that his next party better be there as well. Noted.

The guide then led our group through the stadium with an in-depth tour of the press box, broadcast booths and private suites.

We saw the Top Cats locker room: those girls have custom Panther-blue Uggs. This one here was jealous.

Right as we were leaving Level 0 (don’t say basement) to head up to see the field, we heard the locker room doors open down the cement hall. We saw a security guard and knew who was behind those doors: our Panthers! We waited and looked longingly.

The final part of the tour had the kids running through the visiting team’s tunnel and (almost) out onto the field.

To kids of all ages: #keeppounding

Cool stuff:

• 160 gallons of paint are used to mark the field for each home game. It’s applied like foil highlights on hair, not stamped like artificial turf.
• The Panthers’ symbol is the state of NC & SC together upside down.
• 600 feet of tape is used on the players each game

(Note: Angela is the author of www.angelaerinwilliams.com)