Sports Matter: Mountain Ridge athletes inspire young readers

Every school has its Game Day rituals.  Some may wear lucky socks, eat the same thing for breakfast, or listen to the same songs to get hyped up.  At Mountain Ridge, on a high school football Friday, several seniors get involved with the community spirit while encouraging young students academically.

Tre Hickem, a defensive line assistant coach with the Mountain Lions, launched the initiative during the 2024 season.  He saw an opportunity to bring something missing from the football program – strong community involvement.  Each Friday during the season, seniors from the team visit a feeder school in the Deer Valley District, Copper Creek Elementary, as part of their Book Buddies program to make an impact.

Now in its second year, the project has expanded to include athletes from cheer, pom, and girls’ flag football.

“It’s truly inspiring to see so many sports from both Mountain Ridge and elementary schools in the district inviting our athletes to join them,” Hickem said in an e-mail interview.  “This collaboration is a real blessing that strengthens our community and supports our young athletes beyond the field.

This was the third year on varsity for Havish Chirumamilla.  The safety (and now javelin thrower that it’s track season) had 30 tackles and two sacks for the Mountain Lions and was named to the Second Team All-6A Desert Valley Region.  He grew up in Arizona and was one of the players arriving to Copper Creek with a smile on his face ready to demonstrate a dedication to literacy.

“(It’s about) making an impact on my community,” Chirumamilla said.  “I want to help spread some knowledge.  It’s about bringing together communication with the young kids and sharing my experiences and learning theirs.”

In their interactions with the third-grade students, the high school athletes would invite the kids to ask questions that they would have to provide answers to, on a wide range of topics.

Each week, the event would begin with eagerness and suspense for the children as they would gather together in the classroom, with their faces beaming with admiration for their older peers and curiosity about not only what would be in the book that week, but what they would learn about their heroes and heroines.  The athletes would come into the room dressed in team jerseys or other school gear and put the students at ease with friendly conversation.

Ethan Fernandez was an Honorable Mention All-Region wide receiver for the Mountain Lions.  He was called up to varsity during his sophomore year and got to take part in the reading tradition in his senior season.

“Seeing the smiles on their faces,” Fernandez said about his biggest takeaway from the experience.  “Being a light in their lives, it truly brings you happiness.  It inspires me to help others throughout my life.”

Hickem originally started the Book Buddies program when he was at Horizon.  The project is designed to encourage reading and mentorship among students.  The program at HHS continues today with one of Hickem’s former players.  The fact that it continues after Hickem left shows the positive effect he was able to leave behind.

”When Coach (Andrew) Johnson became the head coach at Mountain Ridge and reached out to me, I said ‘yes’ immediately,” Hickem said.  “I saw not just the school as it is, but the potential it holds for the future.  Mountain Ridge feels like a sleeping giant – full of talented players and dedicated coaches.  Now, the challenge is to bring all these elements together to unlock its true potential.”

Many of the seniors at Mountain Ridge have early release and get out either after third or fourth hour.  The group then meets up at the elementary school.  The high school athletes bring their enthusiasm with them and capture the children’s imaginations during the readings and holding their attention.

And it’s not just limited to tackle football players.  Seniors on the girls’ flag football team (which went 11-9 and made the second round of the 6A playoffs last season) are taking part in the program as well.  One of those was Sophia Villalovos.  She plays as a blocker on the offensive line and likes the drive of the young readers.

“They always push themselves to be like their mentors, teachers, and peers,” Villalovos said.  “I loved seeing how they want to be like us.”

The MRHS players were placed into small groups and visited the same classroom each week.  The teachers looked forward to it each week.  It lended lessons to the seniors as well.

“You can really make a difference in someone’s life,” Villalovos said.  “It shows you can change their lives.”

Cameron Mailloux has done a little of everything when it comes to sports.  She started out with gymnastics and has also played soccer, lacrosse, volleyball, and is now running track.  She was the Lions’ quarterback as a junior and played both wide receiver and safety in her senior year.  Mailloux had a tremendous season with 79 catches for 1,175 yards and 16 touchdowns.  On defense, she had 92 flag pulls (second-most on the team) and a team-high 10 interceptions.  One of the benefits she liked about the program was being able to promote the up-and-coming sport of flag football to the kids.

“I’ve learned a lot about communicating,” Mailloux said.  “It’s understanding not just verbal cues, but physical ones.  Learning the new terminology from the kids.”

Mailloux coaches flag on the side and is hoping to do that in a middle school when she goes off to college at Wingate University near Charlotte.

For the flag and tackle football players at Mountain Ridge, this initiative was a chance to give back to their community and inspire the next generation of students (and probably some future athletes).  It also gave them the opportunity to be looked at and respected highly as mentors.

“When student-athletes ask me for letters of recommendation or tell me I’ve changed their lives, the words ‘thank you for being a role model’ are the greatest compliments I could receive,” Hickem said.  “These moments remind me how meaningful the little things truly are.  These everyday acts sometimes get overlooked, but they build character and set positive examples both on and off the field.  Being a role model means more than just guiding students in sports.  It’s about encouraging good manners, respect, and integrity.  Those small habits matter deeply and can leave a lasting impact on young lives in ways we often don’t fully realize.

Some of our Ridge athletes went to talk to a few of our younger feeder students at Copper Creek and was asked why they love being Mountain Lions. #TheRidgeWay @DVUSD @DvusdA @AdminLeadServe pic.twitter.com/FHj2svKL5E

— Mountain Ridge (@TheMRHS) September 12, 2025

Reach Chris Eaton at gridironarizona@yahoo.com or DM at @gridironarizona with story ideas.