Longtime Newtonian Jeff Riklin is excited about the prospect of volunteering at next year’s FIFA World Cup. Seven of the games will be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. But this isn’t Riklin’s first time as a soccer championship volunteer.

In 1994, he was Striker, “the World Cup pup.” He walked around the promenade at the old Foxboro Stadium delighting fans who wanted a photo with that year’s mascot.

He’s offered to be the mascot again this time around. He has yet to receive a definite response, but he’s hopeful.

Riklin is passionate about soccer. He’s currently the junior varsity coach and assistant varsity coach at Canton High School, and is excited for his students to experience a local World Cup.

“A lot of these kids watch European soccer. It’s great there will be opportunities to watch soccer at a high level. Maybe they can’t go to England, but Canton is 20 minutes from Gillette,” he said. “The energy level is incredible. It’s something you’ll never forget.” He enjoyed his previous World Cup experience, saying that even while people were there to support a particular team, they were also there because of their immense love of the beautiful game.”

Before being at Canton High, he coached at both Newton North and Newton South, as well as Newton youth leagues. (He’s also coached lacrosse, softball, baseball, and Nordic skiing).

He’s a dedicated Newtonian, serving on the Newton Upper Falls area council, the CDC, and the historical commission. But he had a winding journey to get here.

As a teenager, he played soccer for Rye High School in Rye, New York. Then he played at Alfred University in Alfred, New York, while earning his bachelor’s degree in Spanish. He wanted to improve his Spanish abilities and his teaching knowledge, so he went to Mexico, where he lived with a local family and took a course on alternative education methods.

Some of the other teachers invited him to play on the local semi-professional team, where Riklin was the only American player. They were confused by the American goalkeeping style, which entails leaving the net more than the Mexican way of playing. It was also a world where games occasionally broke down into fights on the pitch.

Riklin realized he wanted to get into sports medicine, which led him to earn a master’s degree in adaptive PE at Boston University, his first exposure to Boston. Then he got a physician assistant’s degree at Hahnemann Medical College, now part of Drexel, in Philadelphia. After graduation, he didn’t want to go to work immediately, so he spent eight weeks traveling around the country in a van with his girlfriend. When he returned, he got a call from Cornell University saying they were offering him the job he wanted. Later, he followed his girlfriend to Boston where she was starting a physical therapy program, and has lived in the area ever since.

He’s also been a lead paint inspector and a general contractor.

Before living in Newton, Riklin lived in Jamaica Plain, where he acted at the Footlight Club, a community theater group. He thinks this is what prepared him to be a great mascot, and what he hopes will lead to him being selected as the mascot again.

“I’m a character. Everyone who knows me knows that,” he said.

Whether he’s there to help out or not, Riklin is excited by Massachusetts once again being the host of World Cup matches.

“It’s another opportunity for Boston to shine,” he said.

They’re looking for 16,000 volunteers, and he encourages anyone interested in soccer to consider volunteering.