RMAC student-athletes and coaches put their playbooks aside and grabbed paintbrushes as part of a new twist to the annual conference football kickoff event in Colorado Springs this past weekend. Teams gathered Sunday afternoon at the CPCD Head Start child center for a community service project that included painting offices, staining fences and pulling weeds.
Chadron State senior defensive lineman Kyle Temple (photo right) helped paint an office wall white and stain a fence. He said, “I think it’s a great thing to give back. Communities like Chadron give so much to us and every community that has a school like this gives so much to their college and teams in general. It’s just like The Big Event, (it’s) great to give back to the community and show them that you appreciate all their work.”
Senior center Jake Geil (photo below) was one of the more sought-after painters of the group in his office room, able to reach those tough to reach spots near the ceiling. Plus, he brought in some experience with the brush and met some of his conference teammates.
“I enjoyed it. Two years ago I painted rooms for a job so I kind of knew what I was doing there and it’s good to get out and help the community especially down here where the RMAC headquarters is so it’s good to get out and get the athletes in the conference around to help,” Geil said. “We worked with the Pueblo guys and the Fort Lewis guys and they were all good guys and you expect that. At the end of the day, they’re on different teams but I would imagine most of them are just like us, so it was good to integrate with them and work with them before we have to get after it a little bit.”
It was a friendly and cooperative effort Sunday between the players and coaches who intermingled and teamed up to get the job done. Guys were joking around, sharing supplies and all had fun being on the same side before the season.
Chadron State linebacker Tyler Lewis said, “Yea it was nice getting to know them. A lot of times you just see them as the enemy (on the field), which they still are, but it’s nice to get out and work together and help out people from Colorado Springs and get past the football for a couple hours.”
The RMAC football kickoff event was held for the 12th time in 2018 and the community service project was a new initiative this summer.
