By Sapna Daryanani, Media Relations Intern
Arizona State University’s Game Changer Program has been garnering support from prominent members of the community who recognize the importance of leadership in athletics. On March 2, the program hosted a Game Changer Legacy event featuring ASU Vice President for Athletics Ray Anderson, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo and Arizona Super Bowl Committee CEO Jay Parry.
The Game Changer Program, which establishes mentorships among ASU student-athletes and local high school students, is looking to expand in the future. Former Sun Devil student-athletes Lucy Lara (soccer) and Steffon Martin (football) discussed their personal experiences as mentors and their impact on students at Cesar Chavez High School in Phoenix.
“The mentees saw that I was one of them, that they could become me, and not just me, but they could become better than me,” Lara said. “My role is to help them become greater than what I am now. I would have done anything to have someone come to me and tell me what a student-athlete is and what it takes to be a student-athlete.”
Colangelo, an experienced leader in the world of athletics, attested to the positive influence athletes can have on younger generations.
“Athletes are role models, whether they like it or not; that’s part of the responsibility,” Colangelo said. “You have that notoriety, that exposure and so forth.”
Program Director Jean Boyd alluded to branching out even further within the community and eventually involving all student-athletes.
“As we move forward, we are looking to expand to Tempe and McClintock High Schools here in the Tempe area,” Boyd said. “Some of the demographic variables are similar in those two schools and they’re right here at home in Tempe, as it relates to more impact and more student-athletes we are able to involve. We’re approaching 600 student-athletes and we expect that each and every one of them will be engaged in these types of programs within the community.”
These goals require a great deal of support from the community, and Anderson recognized the importance of a substantial support system for the Game Changers Program.
“This program is absolutely phenomenal as it sits today, but it can be even better if we all jump in and really take it forward,” Anderson said. “ASU is the place to do it; there is no question about it.”
Long-time Sun Devil supporters Russell and Erika Dickey are leading efforts to provide this support system for the Game Changers Program through the Game Changer 100: the first 100 families to finance the program are to be recognized as its founders.
“We could all do something to found this program,” Erika Dickey said. “We wanted to build this with every single person that was involved.”
Ultimately, the core of the Game Changers Program lies within the commitment of ASU student-athletes to sport and service.
“These athletes are game changers in their sport, on the field, and game changers in the lives of these kids,” Russell Dickey said.