FLAGSTAFF, AZ — Two football players are representing Arizona and the Navajo Nation at the American Youth Football National Championships this week in Florida.
Logan Begay and Reese Tsosie are teammates on the 10-and-under Flagstaff Eagles and the PHX Allstars, a state-wide youth team that requires its players to be the best on the field and in the classroom.
“It feels pretty cool to be on an all-stars team representing Arizona, Flagstaff, and the Navajo Nation,” Tsosie said.
To get to PHX Allstars team practices in Phoenix, their families carpooled four times a week from Flagstaff just for this opportunity.
“You have to drive up and down — it’s really tiring," Tsosie said.
Really tiring, and really expensive. Round-trips from Flagstaff to Phoenix, and traveling to Florida, have cost thousands of dollars.
They aren’t the only families paying to play. Studies show Americans pay $30-40 billion a year on youth sports, and athletes from families with lower incomes are six times more likely to quit sports due to costs than athletes from wealthy families.
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Logan and Reese’s Flagstaff football coach says he doesn’t know of two kids more deserving of a helping hand.
"They’re great kids who come from good, blue-collar families who are great parents," the coach of the 10U Flagstaff Eagles, Jack Tongen, said. "You can’t get a better example of great kids than the two sitting next to me right here.”
A big vote of confidence and motivation from the coach ahead of the big games in Florida.
“We’re getting confidence from what he just said," Begay said.
"Just boosting my confidence by 1000," Tsosie said.
If you want to pitch in to help out Logan and Reese, you can do so by clicking the links on each of their names.
