More than a game: Righetti High School Football Players visit Ralph Dunlap Elementary

They might be regular high school students but when the Righetti High School football team puts their jerseys on, they become super heroes to elementary school kids in the community.

“It feels good, you know it’s fun seeing all these kids treating us like we’re super stars,” says Righetti Football Player Cody McCormack.

While it might look like all fun and games, this outreach is meant to teach kids about the importance of making healthy choices and being responsible. Coach Ed Herrmann says he was inspired to do this by being a part of a similar program when he was in high school.

“We see a lot of these [students] at our games on Friday nights so it gives us a chance to come down on their level and spend some time with them,” Herrmann explains.

From signing autographs to giving piggy back rides, both the elementary schoolers and the high schoolers benefited from this annual program.

“It feels pretty good being with football players from Righetti,” says Ralph Dunlap Second Grader Kaine Wise.
“It’s really cool – last year I got like 10,000 autographs,” says Second Grader Cohen Walsh.

Coach Herrmann says he hopes that this outreach helps his players realize that they are role models in the community, telling us: “They might not realize it all the time but we’re role models for these [elementary students]. We want them to grow up and be a Righetti Warrior someday and play football for us and have good academics – we just try to teach those kind of things.”