Like with any game day at Children’s Mercy Park, Doug Carrithers entered the Cauldron on April 2 with his girlfriend, Christan Martin, and a Sporting KC scarf draped around his neck. And just like any other game day, the blue-clad couple took found their usual spot at the bottom left corner of the Members Stands, surrounded by friends and looking out onto the field.
Before Doug yelled her name, Christan really did see it as any other Sporting game day. She chatted with her friends and took in the atmosphere of the stadium, excited to cheer on her team after three consecutive wins to start out the season. But that was before Doug yelled her name.
“Christan!”
As she turned to face him, he lifted the scarf from around his neck to above his head, revealing the message on the other side, Will you marry me?
“I was just kind of shocked!” Christan said later. “I was talking with a friend of ours, and all of a sudden I heard him yell my name. I turned around to see him holding a scarf, and it took me a second to realize what it said. And you can see in the video, because my eyes get big. I was completely shocked.”
It was the two-year anniversary of the couple’s first date, and it would now be the anniversary of their engagement, too. Surrounded by their cheers of their friends, Doug dropped to one knee to reveal the ring he had chosen for his new fiancé.
“It was exciting to have all our friends there for that,” Christan said. “I couldn’t believe that many people were able to keep a secret for that long.”
And then the cheers gave way to a new chant, “She said yes! She said yes!” It was exactly the atmosphere of excitement, solidarity and closeness that made it a great place for the couple’s date nights and the perfect place for a big proposal.
“It’s a different experience sitting down there,” Doug said. “It’s just fun. It’s a good night out for us away from the kids and away from responsibilities. It’s just nice to be with each other. It’s a nice thing we can do together. And it was just kind of blind luck that the April 2 game was going to be on our second anniversary. It’s one of those amazing karma things.”
