By Alexa Lauretano

Recently Arizona Western College's football team visited Castle Dome Middle School to mentor the students on unity through community. This is one of many community-service events that the football team does throughout the year.

"Unity through community" was the motto for the day as the players taught the students teamwork through various activities.

Tug-of-war was up first as middle school students and football players worked together to win the game. The next activity involved hula-hoops. Two teams stood in a line and held hands. They then had to race to see who could get the hula-hoop to the other end of the line of people without letting go of each other.

Quarterback Trent Hosick gave a moving speech about working together and treating others fairly.

Kipp Crosby-Clague, who plays center for the AWC team, felt Hosick's speech really helped a lot, saying, "It was really powerful as well as getting the kids interested."

Getting involved in the Yuma community has been a part of the AWC Football program for five years.

Head Spirit Coach Tiffany Minnick says that there are two community-service projects throughout the year.

"The day of champions in late summer is really to give back to the community, whereas the one we do in December before the bowl game is all about giving back to the schools," Minnick said.

Although the activities at the two events may be different, the message is the same. The goal is to teach the athletes that they need to give back to whatever communities they are a part of. AWC wants the athletes to succeed, and learning to give back is a big part of what they take away from the community service projects.