Sports360AZ
The National Football Foundation Valley of the Sun Awards dinner was unfortunately cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Each year, the chapter honors scholar-athletes in the Phoenix area who excel on and off the field. The formula for the award is 40% success in their sport, 40% what they do in the classroom and the last 20% is community service. It is no surprise that this years Valley of the Sun Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award goes to Horizon QB, Jake Martinelli. Jake is a true leader on and off the field. Within seconds of talking with him you can see and hear why he is so successful in both.
Jake didn’t just win the local chapter award, but he has also been nominated for the National Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award. He is leaving his senior season as the The Region Offensive Player of the Year, NFF Valley of the Sun Chapter Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a nomination to possible win the National title. We will find out later in the summer if Jake won. What a way to close out a high school career.
“I think its a good representation of all of the hard work I have put in. Being a scholar athlete has been something I have prided myself on for years … Obviously hard work is going to pay off and keeping my grades up while still excelling on the football field is exactly what I set out to do … It feels good to be appreciated.”
Jake will be taking his talents in the classroom and on the football field to the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology to study engineering.
“ I have wanted to do engineering for as long as I can remember … chemical engineering …It’s always been kind one of my dream schools. For it to be a possibility was even fantastic and then when I got up there and talked with the coaches and saw what the future holds its an offer I can’t pass up. “
