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University of Minnesota Athletics
Bowl Blog: Gophers Give Back
12/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
The Got Hope? t-shirts worn by the children and families of the Phoenix HopeKids chapter Saturday afternoon at Coasters N Castles in Glendale, Ariz., were hard to miss. So to were the maroon and gold clad football players attached at the hip to the kids.
Gopher Athletics has long had a relationship with the Twin Cities HopeKids chapter and Saturday the Gopher football team took time out to spread some holiday cheer and Minnesota spirit in the Valley of the Sun.
The Minnesota football program, in town to face Kansas in the 2008 Insight Bowl, hosted nearly 100 families of the HopeKids Phoenix organization at Coasters N Castles, enjoying a bevy thrill rides and carnival-style games at one of the Valley’s leading amusement centers.
“These are kids whose days are filled with chemotherapy and radiation treatments and a lot of uncertainty about the future,” said president and founder Robert Cottrell, who was on hand to help organize the event. “To have a chance to come out to a place like this and to pal around with a Gopher football player is just amazing for them. I see these kids just light up when they meet their player and these guys are superstars to these kids.”
And the afternoon of fun seemed to affect the Gopher players as much as it did the children.
“We always talk about overcoming adversity in athletics, but these kids are facing real-life adversity,” senior linebacker Deon Hightower said. “We are so blessed and I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon here in Arizona than spending quality time with some very special children.”
HopeKids, which was founded in Phoenix, sponsors ongoing events and activities in an effort to create a powerful, unique support community for children with cancer and other life-threatening medical conditions.
