Amanda Valle is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Coronado by AZPreps365.com

For some schools the endless amount of students wanting to take part in the athletics programs with booster clubs donating is normal. However, for Coronado High School things are different. 

The head baseball coach Don Spaniak took the time this year to write to the Diamondbacks asking for a grant for the softball and baseball teams so they could update their facilities. 

Spaniak’s hard work and dedication to his program paid off as the Coronado softball and baseball team were awarded the Diamondbacks grant for their programs this semester. 

What does this mean?

Both programs were awarded $5,000 to use towards new gear, dugouts, or other facility upgrades. This year the baseball team will be adding a new windshield to its field and the softball program will be using this grant to add a padded backstop to its field. 

The grant is extremely important to these programs after the rough year they have gone through with COVID. 

“It is a point of pride,” said Athletic Director Anthony Miller. “To be able to have a place where our students feel proud to call their home.”

This is the second year in a row the baseball and softball programs have been awarded the Diamondbacks grant. 

“It is about more than just teaching the kids baseball,” said Spaniak. “We want to teach them how to be better people.” 

“Having the recognition come from a major league organization is huge for these kids,” said Assistant baseball coach Jim Caruthers. “It helps show them that other people see them and truly care for them.”

This season will be more difficult than most. Both teams are unsure of how many players they will have. 

“We have a motto that we like to follow as a team,” said Spaniak. “For our freshman, we are going to accept some problems and issues to arise, for sophomores we are expecting the same but hoping for a little less, for juniors we don’t want those problems, and for seniors we want them to be the problem solvers.” 

The baseball program only has one team. Spaniak uses the difference in the ages to help the players learn how to be leaders. The coaches know that most of these players won’t continue playing after high school but they do know that they will be better people.