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Editor’s note:  “Inside the Grande” is a weekly Wednesday feature in which we peer inside the inner workings of the Grande Sports Academy. We take a peek behind the curtains and discuss various topics about the off the field success at the GSA. To see previous “Inside the Grande” features click here. 

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. – On Wednesday morning, twelve Grande Sports Academy student-athletes volunteered at Oasis Pavilion Nursing & Rehabilitation Center’s Spring Carnival. The participating GSA volunteers were paired up at different stages and helped in various games.

The GSA student-athletes helped the residents in eight different games that included: basketball throw, duck fishing, putt-putt golf, lollipop pick, ring toss, cornhole, toilet paper toss, three-bucket toss and sticker grab. One resident gave away palm readings, and a handful of the GSA participants enthusiastically had their palms read.

Student attendees: Danny Acosta, Corey Baird, Luis Barraza, Matthias Binder, Kiuno Cann, Kris Fourcand, Leo Fuchs, Jose Hernandez, Moises Rodriguez, Sebastian Saucedo, Miles Stray, and Te Wihongi.

“It was very helpful because we had one in the fall and it was basically our volunteers and the employees,” said Tammy Nite,   “It worked out well because it’s not as busy as before and the residents look forward to meeting to new people. They get excited about it and were very thankful to have the GSA players here.”

Near the end of the carnival one resident challenged two of our student-athletes to an arm-wrestling contest and won both attempts. Senior Corey Baird, future Stanford University men’s soccer midfielder and current member of the “GSA 4.0 GPA Club”, spoke highly of the event saying, “I’m just really happy to be here with all my teammates and it feels really good to give back to the community. It brings us all together to do something good in helping out people.”

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