08/20/2026
One Team, One District: How Athletics Help Build the “WE” in EPSD9
Before the first whistle of a new season, student-athletes across Eagle Point School District 9 are already learning lessons that reach far beyond the scoreboard.
They are learning to rely on one another, take responsibility for their choices, work with people they may not know, and understand what it means to contribute to something larger than themselves.
From the middle school fields to Eagle Point High School, those lessons help students build character, relationships, and a sense of belonging as they move through EPSD9.
At White Mountain Middle School, Coach Oliva sees athletics as an opportunity to begin building that foundation early.
“We weave character with everything that we do, whether it’s PE or football,” Oliva said. “I just want these kids to understand that character matters. The decisions they make affect them.”
That philosophy was already visible before his football team even began practicing.
On the first day, players had work to do. They helped prepare equipment, set up the blocking sled and water station, and handled the logistical details needed for the season ahead.
It wasn’t glamorous, but that was part of the point. Everyone had a role in preparing for what they were about to do together.
Oliva said middle school is a relatively short stop in a student’s life, but it comes at an important time. As students grow older, more responsibility will be placed on them. Athletics give them one place to begin learning how to handle it.
“I want kids to not only just believe in themselves, but also understand what it takes to be a teammate,” he said.
For eighth-grader Nico, those lessons are already taking hold.
Nico began playing football in sixth grade through Eagle Point High School’s youth program. When asked what he has learned since then, his answer went beyond blocking, tackling, or understanding the game.
“Learning how to work with people that I don’t know or do know,” Nico said, adding that football has also taught him “mental toughness.”
He has made friends through the sport, too, another connection that becomes increasingly important as students grow and their circles begin to expand.
At EPSD9 Middle Schools, being part of a team also means carrying responsibilities away from the field.
“There’s accountability toward each other,” Oliva said. “They’re learning the culture of what it means to be a middle school football player.”
That accountability continues during lunch, in the hallways, and in the classroom. Players are expected to look out for one another and, when necessary, hold each other accountable.
Nico said the players experience both success and consequences as a group.
“I like how he doesn’t punish us as a person. He punishes us all together,” Nico said.
It reinforces a lesson students will encounter repeatedly as they move through athletics and through life: what one person does can affect the people around them.
The message to middle school athletes extends well beyond the football field. Sports are a place where students learn to keep going when they are tired, work beside people who are different from them, and discover that even their best effort will not always produce the outcome they hoped for.
Students will win and lose. Some will start, and others will sit on the bench. There will be great performances and difficult ones.
Through it all, we want students to know that accountability and belonging can exist together.
Although playing time may be earned, dignity never is; it's something you discover from within.
As EPSD9 students grow older, those early lessons travel with them. Eventually, students from throughout the district come together at Eagle Point High School. Different schools, teams, friend groups, and experiences begin converging into one high school community.
And there, athletics continue to provide opportunities to build the same sense of connection.
Eagle Point High School football coach Ben Brown made that a priority from the very beginning of the season.
At the stroke of midnight, Eagle Point Football took the field for a special practice under the stadium lights. While much of the community slept, players competed, worked, laughed, and spent time building relationships with teammates and coaches.
The unusual start time was intentional. Brown wanted the beginning of the season to be memorable, but the purpose went deeper than creating a fun experience.
“The goal was about more than just football; it was about creating memories, strengthening our bond, and reminding everyone that we are one team working toward one goal,” Brown said.
That idea connects what is happening under the lights at Eagle Point High School with what younger athletes are beginning to learn years earlier.
A middle school student learns to work with someone he doesn’t know. A teammate learns that his choices affect the rest of the group.
Students learn how to be coached, how to respond to setbacks, how to celebrate someone else’s success, and how to contribute even when they aren’t the person getting the attention.
Then, as students from across EPSD9 arrive at Eagle Point High School, they bring those experiences with them and begin building new teams and relationships with one another.
That is where athletics can become an important part of the district’s larger commitment to “WE.”
EPSD9 further invests into this philosophy with its Youth Camps. These camps provide a great connection between the present and future of our programs. Led by Eagle Point High School coaches and supported by their students. Eagle Point High School and District Athletic Director Dave Ehrhardt said. "The future Eagles get a taste of what things are like at the high school while our current Eagles get a sense of giving back to the community by working with kids who look up to them."
Ehrhardt added that the district's annual Flight Club Youth Camps will start in October and run throughout the school year.
As we look around, the uniforms and sports may differ. So may the fields, courts, courses, mats, and tracks where students compete. Not every student-athlete will continue playing the same sport throughout school, and winning will always be part of competition.
But the value of school athletics isn’t limited to the final score.
It can be found in learning to show up for other people.
It can be found in discovering that individual decisions affect a team.
It can be found in accepting coaching, persevering after disappointment, and recognizing that being part of a group carries both responsibility and belonging.
Years after a season ends, Oliva wrote, few people will remember who won a middle school championship. What students may remember is “the coach who believed in them, the teammate who picked them up” or the season when they discovered they could face something difficult and keep going.
Brown’s Eagles are carrying that lesson forward at the high school level.
From the first whistle at White Mountain to a midnight practice beneath the lights at Eagle Point High School, the settings may change, but the work continues: building teammates, building character, and building relationships that connect students to something larger than themselves.
Different ages. Different schools. Different teams. One District.
