Aidan Hansen is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Maryvale High School for AZPreps365.com.

Maryvale High School has a decorated football history with many players having reached the NFL like three-time Super Bowl champion Darren Woodson and Phillippi Sparks, who played for the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.

But there is one man whose family keeps giving back to the Maryvale community.

Allante Shines.

Playing wide receiver for the Panthers from 2012-16, Shines was a standout on and off the field as he graduated from Maryvale with a 4.2 GPA. 

“I was really different than everybody else, and sports wise, I excelled," Shines said. "Then on the academic turn of things I've just been always really organized. So when it came to school, I wanted to get things done the correct way."

Shines played Division III for the Southwestern Pirates, in Georgetown, Texas. He left the Pirates in 2019 after a nagging injury that finally became too much to bear. 

“So over the span of four years, I had a cartilage defect in my left knee and my junior year of college it got to the point where I couldn't even run anymore,” Shines said. “The size of the defect was just so large that it wouldn't take one surgery, it would take three surgeries. Right now I'm just dealing with basically not having any cartilage in my left knee.”

After college and his playing career, Shines came back to Arizona where his brother Devante Stokes, who also graduated from Maryvale in 2011, was coaching.

“The fact that I played football my whole life it just was almost destined to happen with me,” Stokes said. “I already kind of had an idea of how I wanted my life to go. The NFL played a factor in that, but I also wanted to have a son and  name him after me.  I wanted to raise him and teach him and coach him.”

Stokes was already coaching when Shines came back so he decided to join him.

“I was really kind of bummed out that I wasn't able to play football anymore due to injuries, but seeing him [Stokes] coaching and seeing him giving back, I really wanted to join that and give the knowledge that I had to the younger generation coming up,” Shines said.

Shines and Stokes both coach for the GridIron Football League for kids in Arizona.

Stokes had gained approval for Maryvale to use the football field for flag football in the offseason for the GridIron Football League. 

However, after receiving pushback from the community because of costs and the area around Maryvale being low income, Stokes has decided to pursue this goal again in the future. 

Shines and Stokes volunteered for a year at Maryvale. Now they're in their first official year as assistant coaches.

Having played college ball, Shines brought a different element to the coaching staff.

“They get to actually learn from a college receiver who is still young and can still go out here and play with them at practice and perform,” said Stokes.

Maryvale assistant coach Gil Morales says Shines  is "definitely a player's coach" with a relentless approach to the game. 

“He also expects the highest quality of play from his players," Morales said. "So he holds them to a very high standard and he asks a lot of them.”

Shines and Stokes are both on a mission to give back to Maryvale football and the community. 

“They want to pay it back to their community, to their high school and to the players who haven't had the opportunity to understand what a win is in the last four years,” Morales said.