Mountain Ridge's Egea, Mohave's Urias honored as BBB Ethical Athletes

January 25, 2024 by Seth Polansky, AZPreps365


Reprinted from press releases supplied by the Better Business Bureau Serving the Pacific Southwest

Better Business Bureau Serving Pacific Southwest (BBB) in partnership with Arizona Interscholastic Association, has named Daleina Egea from Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale and Isac Uraias of Mohave High School in Bullhead City as a BBB Ethical Athlete scholarship recipients.

Whether she is playing soccer or competing in a track and field event, Egea never hesitates to check on a teammate who may have fallen during a game or race. As a captain of her soccer team, she leads with ethics and positivity by using her voice to speak up and defend others when needed.

“When her best friend and teammate was diagnosed with cancer, Daleina set an alarm for every morning and evening to ensure she reached out to her and dropped off food and gift baskets. She has stood by her every day since,” shared Julie Egea who nominated Daleina for the scholarship.

Besides playing soccer and track and field, Egea dedicates lots of her time to volunteer work. She currently volunteers at a physical therapy facility and at a group home for children who have lost a parent. Egea has also volunteered several times to help children in need with "Shop with a Cop."

Egea is also a role model to her 11-year-old younger sister’s soccer team. None have older sisters so she has accepted this role. Some don’t have fathers and their mothers appreciate her as a role model and someone their kids can reach out to, and they trust she will give them sound advice.

Egea is currently committed to play Division II soccer next year despite tearing her ACL this past season.

Isac’s punctual attendance in preseason workouts, practices and games for football and wrestling, shows his commitment to the sports. He is independent and carries a smile on his face with a “whatever it takes” attitude.

Characterized as a “fierce competitor and loyal friend”, his nominator shares that he “continues to work hard despite little to no support in his home life.”

Urias and his sophomore brother currently live with their older sister and he often relies on others to help him get to and from school and practices. Despite this, he is never late to a practice, workout or game.

Also, in the submission form it mentions his compassionate and caring ways, as he was the only player to stay on the field and check on an official with the athletic trainer after Urias had tackled the ALA-West Foothills quarterback into him, knocking him down onto his back.

“Isac showed compassion, great morals and ethics when a head referee was knocked to the ground in a football game. Instead of running back to the sidelines like all of the other players, he ran over to the official and put his arm around him to make sure he was ok. This act showed the dignity and respect that Isac had for the referee even though fans in the stands were making profanity and derogatory remarks aimed at officials ,” shared Amanda Amann.

This past season Urias was Mohave’s top receiver totaling 48 receptions for 723 yards and five touchdowns. He also led the team with four interceptions.

Through community and self-nominations, high school students are evaluated by a panel of judges for their ability to uphold integrity in the face of ethical and personal challenges when playing a sport on and off the court. The program honors these behaviors and their positive influence on others.

Nominate

Arizona high school athletes must have a GPA of at least 2.75, enrolled in an AIA sanctioned school while participating in an AIA sanctioned sport are eligible to be nominated for the scholarship. Nominations for the scholarship are now open at athlete.bbbcommunity.org until February 29.

More Information

For media inquiries, contact pr@bbbcommunity. Please allow a 24 hour courtesy for interview requests. For additional news stories, visit bbb.org/us/news. Published with permission from Better Business Bureau.

Value

BBB encourages businesses to operate with integrity, and helps consumers make wise marketplace decisions. Our innovative approach to business growth provides the tools that companies and entrepreneurs need to build better businesses. Become BBB Accredited and join our mission to create a community of trust. Published with permission from Better Business Bureau.

About the Better Business Bureau Serving the Pacific Southwest

Better Business Bureau has empowered people to find businesses, brands, and charities they can trust for more than 110 years. In 2022, people turned to BBB more than 250 million times for BBB Business Profiles on more than 5.3 million businesses and Charity Reports on about 12,000 charities, all available for free at BBB.org. The International Association of Better Business Bureaus is the umbrella organization for the local, independent BBBs in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Incorporated locally in 1938, BBB Serving the Pacific Southwest serves Greater Arizona and Southern California, providing critical tools to ignite success including mentorship, online products, coworking and access to capital. Our objective expertise educates the community on ethical behavior in the marketplace and how businesses can build trust.