KUNA, Idaho — Have you heard of "The Tribe?" It's a mentoring program that the new head football coach at Kuna High School brought to the community this season. "The Tribe" is bringing elementary school kids and high school kids together, and the whole town is noticing under the Friday night lights.
"'The Tribe' we started this year, it is basically a mentorship program for our football team. Mainly our varsity football players are tasked with being a mentor to elementary school kids in the area who opted for it," said Kuna High Football Head Coach Beau Smith.
Coach Smith came to Kuna from Texas. He said he saw a similar program there.
Brody Loveless is a senior at Kuna High, and a proud member of the football team. He said he loves being a part of it.
"'The Tribe', it's this program where we get to connect with the elementary school kids, and we get to the introduce them to the team to let them know what we are about," said Loveless. "Today, we came to all the elementary schools in Kuna, all of us seniors did. We greeted all the kids as they got to school, opened car doors for them, helped them get to school today and it seemed like the kids loved it."
Each player has a buddy for the football season. The players write weekly letters to the kids, and support them at their activities.
"Like going to optimist games, or piano recitals, anything. They just support these kids. It's really cool seeing these guys be there for their Tribe buddies," Smith said.
Loveless said his little buddy loves the program, too.
"My buddy is Mia, a little girl in 3rd grade. She's just a super energetic kid, she's passionate about all kinds of things. She's one of the only girls in the Tribe and she loves it," Loveless said.
The best part about being in "The Tribe" is being a big part of the home football games at Kuna High.
"At the games they get to run out of the tunnel with us, and they get to stand for the National Anthem next to the players, and they do all the fun pregame stuff with us," Loveless said. "They get a cool experience with the smoke and the fireworks and everybody cheering."
Coach Smith knows how special this is for everyone involved.
"It's a really awesome experience." Smith said. "You just kind of see with the athletes too, they light up as well. Seeing that impact they have on a little kid brings so much growth to these guys. We've gotten great reception from parents about it. It's just another way to grow our community."
It means a lot to Loveless, especially during his senior season.
"Just that I get to leave an impact. I get to create a legacy, and I get to impact somebody's life," Loveless said. "I love what's going on, I love Coach Beau and what he's brought to the program and I'm excited to see how things are going to turn out after I leave."
Coach Smith said this is just the beginning. He is building a legacy.
"This is going to get bigger and better, we're going to get more participation. I'm going to get more football players to do this. My plan is to have hundreds of elementary kids on our sideline just lining the whole field," Smith said. "The main goal is building our community we're big on Kuna here."
If you want to be a part of "The Tribe" next year, contact the Kuna High Football Program.