Mihir Sinhasan is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Sunrise Mountain High School for AZPreps365.com

Sunrise Mountain football coaches and players believe their team bonding and preseason fan events are reflections of their strong community.

These events do not happen without partnerships with local businesses and families.

“These guys hang out a lot,” Sunrise Mountain head coach Steve Decker said. “They’re brothers. They’re friends. I think they are a tight-knit bunch.”

One event includes fundraisers with local brand restaurants that are held a few times a month during the season, where certain proceeds are sent to the program.

These events included a “mobile spirit night” at a local Chick-fil-A during the week the Mustangs played the Liberty Lions. The two schools competed to see who could raise the most money.

Another popular event amongst the players is the team dinners, which are held every Thursday during game weeks. The sponsorship is split between local restaurants and families within the program, who usually cater the meal.

Senior middle linebacker/fullback and co-captain Brandon Robbins said he loves team dinners because it helps him create bonds with his teammates that he does not talk to as often.

“It kind of brings us all together with something we all love doing, which is eating,” Robbins said. “Everybody does it. But we burn a lot of calories, so we love [it] a bit more.”

Restaurants can also hold sponsorships alongside local independent businesses, which can be completed at the beginning of the season. These packages include banners inside and outside of the stadium, advertisements in the team’s season program, announcer shoutouts at all home games, and promotions on Sunrise Mountain’s social media platforms. Packages deals are listed from least to greatest as Purple, Silver, and Gold.

These sponsorships fund opportunities for players within the program. For example, the Mustangs took charter buses to their season opener against Palos Verdes in suburban Los Angeles. They went to Dave & Busters which was sponsored by a family. The team also held a media day breakfast and a fan fest before the start of the season.

Another co-captain, senior Andrew Harris, went on a hiking trip to the Grand Canyon with his fellow “big guys” during the offseason. He said he is glad that the program provides these opportunities, which have grown over the past year.

“We [were] putting ourselves through something tough, but having a good time bonding with each other,” Harris said about the Grand Canyon trip. “And those team dinners are crucial. I love them as well.”

There are other ways families can get involved with the program. QR code sign-ups are posted on the team’s Facebook page for family members interested in being involved with meals during the varsity team’s summer camp, coaches’ lunches on Saturdays in-season, laundry, the team’s spirit wear shop, and pantry donations.

The team also promotes booster meetings, where the teams discuss volunteer opportunities, such as helping at team events.