Super Bowl star speaks at sports banquet at Elgin school

Super bowl football star Randy Robbins made an appearance at the second annual Elgin Elementary Sportsmanship Awards Banquet to speak to students about giving back to their community.

Robbins, who is from Casa Grande, played for the Denver. He helped the Broncos to the Super bowl three times, winning twice. At the May 2 ceremony, Robins said that at some point during his NFL career he realized he was part of something that was bigger than himself.

He told the students that if they do their best in whatever they're doing, they will achieve great things in their lives. And, when they find themselves coming to that realization that they are also part of something greater than themselves, they have a responsibility to remember where they came from, and advised them to return to their community and give something back.

Marcella Heiss, facilitator for the Character Counts Program, run through the Santa Cruz County Schools Superintendent's Office, said that unlike other sports award banquets, young athletes were recognized here for the attitudes they exercised when participating in their chosen sport.

"Instead of the usual awards for things like who has the most wins, or who did physically better than someone else, they gave out awards to the players for their show of character or how they played," she said. "Their awards were for things like team spirit, fairness, or who played with the most heart."

Elgin Elementary has eight athletic teams.

One student from each team received an award presented to them by their coach.

"We tell all the kids in the school that sportsmanship is the greatest and best award you can get," said Amanda Markiewicz, the school's athletic director.

Categories for awards that were presented at the banquet were Sportsmanship, Most Heart, Respectful, Caring, Team Spirit, Flexible Attitude, Fairness, Most Determined to Endure, and Most Persistent.

"It has been a great two years and it's great to have a small town community come together for one night and honor the kids and coaches who dedicate their time and effort to coach and play," Markiewicz said.