Tucson is home to some amazing athletes; we don’t have to tell you that twice.
But, we will.
In fact, we’re going to tell you every single week for the foreseeable future.
The Arizona Daily Star sports team is excited to announce a new community-driven initiative that will highlight student-athletes from local high schools who excel on and off the field.
Starting this week, our Student-Athlete of the Week segment will feature one outstanding student-athlete from a high school in Southern Arizona, including our neighbors in Oro Valley, Willcox, Nogales and Sells, just to name a few.
Mica Mountain sophomore pitcher Acelynnrose Heston works out in a brief bullpen session before a playoff game in April.
These features range from brief stories to in-depth profiles to fun Q&As that allow readers to get to know these athletes on a deeper level beyond their names, numbers and stats.
You’ll get to learn about what drives these young athletes and how they balance competitive sports, academics and extracurriculars, along with what makes them exemplary community members.
We aim to highlight exceptional student-athletes from every high school in Southern Arizona with this new initiative.
Joey Bernier, a senior at Salpointe Catholic, Valentin Ortiz, junior at Salpointe, and Oliver De Guia, a junior at Catalina Foothills take practice shots at El Rio Golf Course on Sept. 6.
While we’ll still include our High School Football Player of the Week feature in our regular weekly content, we’re utilizing this new Student-Athlete of the Week segment to help expand and diversify our high school sports content by covering various sports.
The best part about this news? The Student-Athlete of the Week segment is only the beginning of our extended community sports coverage.
In the coming weeks, you can expect to see more community-driven storytelling through profile stories, lists, guides, Q&As and more featuring all sports, not just mainstream athletics.
The Walden Grove Red Wolves warm up before taking on Scottsdale Saguaro in a soccer state playoff game in February.
You’ll be able to find our community sports content online at Tucson.com and in print in Tuesday’s sports section, which is soon to become a dedicated spot for all community sports coverage. Plus, a community sports newsletter and podcast are on their way, too!
But, to create some of the best community sports content around, we need the community’s help to make sure we’re recognizing the best sports teams, clubs, organizations and athletes in Tucson.
If you have any story ideas, tips or even “Student-Athlete of the Week” recommendations, please reach out to Community Sports Editor Elvia Verdugo at everdugo@tucson.com.
We’re excited to highlight a diverse hub of athletes and sports and we can’t wait to show you what’s next for our local sports content.
