LOCAL PREP FOOTBALL STARS JOIN COYOTES TO TEACH A LIFE ‘ABOVE THE LINE’

(INDIO) – Nearly 1,500 local young leaders at Desert Ridge Academy middle school learned to calibrate their moral compass, embrace authority, and discover powerful life skills during a rollicking ‘Above the Line’ leadership symposium from the SoCal Coyotes non-profit organization.

Team football captains from Cathedral City High and Shadow Hills High – both of whom participate in the Coyotes award-winning ‘Above the Line’ program – joined the five-time champions to share their own motivating stories of encouragement with middle schoolers.

Cathedral City High School varsity wide receiver James Green and quarterback Nico Guardiola were honorary Coyotes. They told Desert Ridge students how they have used positive choices to overcome personal adversity and change the course of their lives.

“Leadership isn’t leadership unless you can duplicate it,” said J David Miller, Coyotes founder and Hall of Fame head coach. He challenged students to “make their next move their best move.”

It was a stunning display of local cooperation and participation to grow leadership between schools, athletic directors and their districts.

Shadow Hills High School AD and head football coach Ron Shipley was on hand for the event, which included two of his own star players – senior wide receiver/safety J.D. Lang, and senior linebacker Quincy Edson.

Every participating student took the Coyotes 50-question Above the Line Leadership Quiz.

The test includes questions like ‘Did you make your bed this morning?’ … ‘Do you do things without being asked or told?’ … ‘Do you initiate positive outcomes?’ – the ‘little victories’ that begin each morning, the moment you awake.

With thunderous applause, thousands of students agreed to “ruthlessly eliminate” blaming, complaining and excuses from their lives, and to take the time to “develop their conscience, attack life, and refuse to round it off.”

-SVP Ron DiGrandi ([email protected])

ABOUT THE SOCAL COYOTES

The SoCal Coyotes are the national standard of American developmental football. The Coyotes non-profit organization provides elite athletes a professional environment that refines and showcases their skills through trademarked processes similar to the NBA’s D-league and MLB’s minor-league systems.

NFL executives have named the SoCal Coyotes organization America’s #1 Developmental Football Program™ for its national, scalable brands, community outreach programs, five-year operating track record, verifiable data, youth curriculum, sales, public-private sector alliances, and measured results.