PCA-Arizona hosted a Zoom celebration for the 2020 Triple-Impact Competitor® winners to tell the story of these incredible athletes. Jody Jackson, a reporter for FOX Sports Arizona, moderated the event which featured the Head Coach of the Arizona State University Sun Devils Football team, Herm Edwards.

Mike Nealy, one of PCA-AZ Chapter Board members, began the event with remarks by started by honoring Arizona Double-Goal Coach® award winner, Heather Frushour.

"Without a great coach, we cannot become the athletes that we want to be and Double-Goal Coach® means striving to win and being competitive but it is also critical to focus on teaching life lessons," he said. "Good coaches, through sports, teach the life lessons that athletes can take with them."

Frushour, a Track and Field coach at Empire High School in Vail, believes that champions in sports accomplish more than accolades on the field.

"One thing I always ask my athletes is how they define a champion," she explained. "My younger athletes usually say that champions come first, or they get the school record. By the time that they are seniors, they realize that being a champion does not always involve record-breaking. They begin to think of a champion as someone who brings a positive attitude every day and constantly gives a consistent best effort. We do not always remember our awards, but we will remember those lessons as we move through our life."

Attendees also heard from Bart Catmull, President and COO of Sagicor Life Insurance – the sponsor of the PCA-Arizona TIC scholarships. Sagicor Life Insurance has worked with PCA for over 5 years and enjoys working with the Tampa Bay area chapter as well.

Catmull grew up in Chandler and attended Chandler High. He encouraged the scholarship winners to remember to take action as they face the next challenge in their lives.

"In this time where there is so much confusion, so much angst, and some fear, there’s a quote that I want to share with you which is 'the antidote to fear is action'," Catmull said. "Each one of you experienced moments of fear and some angst as you waited to take on that next challenge in your sport. The fear of the unknown is something that at times can keep us on the bench or on the couch. Fear can keep us in our apartment or house. The only way we can really succeed in this life is through action and I challenge each of you as you begin this new stage of life to take action. Do not sit around waiting for the world to come to you but go out and take yourselves to the world."

Jackson then announced the 2020 TIC scholarship winners and gave each the opportunity to say what the award means to them, offered advice for other athletes, and shared their plan for the fall.

• Qusai Almustafa, Catalina High School
  • Attending the University of Arizona, where he plans to play track and major in computer engineering
• Luke Bass, Chandler High School
  • Attending Lewis and Clarke College, where he plans to play baseball and major in bio-medical or chemical engineering
• Emma Byrd, Arizona College Prep
  • Attending Arizona State University, where she plans to major in psychology and hopes to become a genetic counselor
• Isabel Cordova, Empire High School
  • Attending Northern Arizona University, where she plans to major in health science with an emphasis in public health
• Ahlias Jones, Arizona College Prep
  • Attending Arizona State University, where he plans to major in sports business
• Meiling Milgrim, Phoenix Christian High School
  • Attending Arizona Christian University, where she plans to study music with an emphasis on modern worship
• Caitlynn Neal, Bradshaw Mountain High School
  • Attending the University of Nebraska
• AJ Owen, Perry High School
  • Attending Ripon College, where he plans to play football and study sports management
• Celine Pacheco, Empire High School
  • Attending Milwaukee School of Engineering, where she plans to play softball and study industrial engineering
• Una Rosales, Willow Canyon High School
  • Attending Grand Cayon University, where she plans to major in nursing with a focus on nurse informatics
• Sara Roskelley, Deer Valley High School
  • Attending Brigham Young University,  where she plans to study Occupational Therapy
• Taylor Rotenburg, Cactus Shadows High School
  • Attending Tulane University, where she plans to cheer and double major in math and legal studies in business
• Krista Rowan, Arizona College Prep
  • Attending Grand Cayon University, where she plans to play beach volleyball and study sports management
• Owen Sullins, Arizona College Prep
  • Attending Arizona State University, where he plans to study architecture and minor in project management
• Tendall Weigand, Arizona College Prep
  • Attending Cornell College, where she plans to play volleyball and study politics, pre-law, and Spanish

Herm Edwards, who played and coached in the NFL and currently works as the Head Coach of the Arizona State University Sun Devils, closed out the event by offering remarks on the unique times we are living in.

"As much as we think that we control what we do every day, we found out that we really do not," Edwards said. "We realized this as our country faces a pandemic and witnesses the social movements around racial injustice. I challenge all student-athletes to not stand silent when injustice or racism appears. You have a platform and you have a voice. With that voice, make sure that you are the voice of reason and that you have solutions so we can move America forward. You can make a difference in people’s lives. Sports eventually ends. It comes to an end for all of us and generally not on your terms. Sports is not only about making the game better, but it is about working to make your teammates better because they were in your presence."

Edwards also remarked on how the standards of sportsmanship revolve around making the game better by being vulnerable on the field.

"I have always said this, 'if the game is not better because you played it or coached it, you failed the game'," he said. "The preparation is the hardest part of any sport. You will practice more than you will actually play in the event. The greatest thrill that an athlete has is allowing themselves to be vulnerable. They are not afraid to go into the arena, at any level, and in front of their friends and family and everyone else who’s watching and be vulnerable. It takes a strong person to do that."

He concluded with a few questions from the athletes and reminded athletes and others in attendance to “continue to trust in your hopes, not in your fears.”