The Indiana Football Coaches Association announced the formation of the “Good Works” team this year to recognize players, groups and entire teams who have committed themselves to serving others. From the IFCA: “All nominees have served in an extraordinary way and are tremendous representatives of the power of football to make a difference in our communities.”

More: Here are the 2020 Mr. Football position award winners named by IFCA

More: IFCA names its Top 50 all-state football team

The first “Good Works” team:

Anthony Hentz, Scecina

Hentz works during the summer at school to set up all student and staff computers for the upcoming school year and fixes and troubleshoots all devices throughout the year. He serves as a volunteer at the local food pantry two hours a week, serving food and stocking shelves, and volunteers weekly at a soup kitchen washing dishes, serving food, setting up and cleaning up. Hentz is a member of Scecina’s liturgy club and sets up and tears down all school liturgical services. He does all of this while earning a 4.3 grade-point average, playing varsity soccer and performing as an all-conference and all-City football player.

Center Grove football team

The Center Grove football team members served as one-day camp mentors for handicapped children as a part of “Camp Ability.” Campers were bussed to the Center Grove school football field and greeted with a tunnel of “high fives.” All campers were given free jerseys to keep, along with mini-footballs and other goodies. Each camper’s name was announced as they ran through the tunnel and on to the field for water games, tackle dummies, wagon pulling, trike rides and other contests.

Goshen football team

The Goshen football team, in conjunction with the Goshen softball team, is raising money this holiday season to feed families in their community. All players are soliciting donations and shopping for food to box up and deliver to needy families in Goshen. Over 25 families will be fed from this extraordinary service.

Harrison High School senior leadership and character development team

Leadership and character development team coach Tracy Brown oversaw the following seniors for this season: John Franks, Hunter Ferguson, David Ramirez, Jack Murray, Conor Munn, Zion King, Marcel Atisso, Andrew Schafer and Austin Tyson. The senior leadership team coordinated several service events in 2020, including the Electronic Waste recycling day, the Memorial Day weekend flag placement, the Indianapolis Colts/Indiana Blood Center leadership challenge, the CASA cycling challenge to raise money for neglected and abused children, and moving the offices of local housing service Homestead CS across town. Additionally, these seniors participated in the Habitudes and Inside/Out coaching initiatives.

Evansville Mater Dei football team

Members of the Mater Dei football team joined forces with the University of Southern Indiana women’s basketball team to give a landscaping upgrade to local YWCA, temporary housing for single mothers and their young children. The Wildcats spent the day removing and cleaning overgrown shrubs, bushes and weeds. The players then trimmed bushes and trees, planted new bushes and flowers and then mulched the entire entrance and around the building. The resulting improvements were much appreciated and made the YWCA more attractive and welcoming to the residents.

Will Strahm, Westfield

Strahm serves his community in a variety of ways while seeking no recognition. In 2020, he built a wheelchair accessible ramp for a woman with ALS, organized and sanitized a preschool and all of their toys, planted a garden at a local church, and packed summer lunches for a local elementary school. Strahm volunteers at his church, serves on mission trips and teaches vacation bible school. Local non-profits like Student Impact, Westfield Rotary Club, Westfield youth assistance program and Open Doors food pantry have counted on Will to volunteer for a multitude of projects. He has filled sandbags for food relief, made Christmas presents for the Salvation Army and delivered turkeys on Thanksgiving. He routinely volunteers to coach younger kids at Westfield Rock School.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at 317-444-6649.