A common question you will hear from people when you are recruiting is, where is someone from?  While that is a very fair question here at Mayville State University we believe that even more important than where someone is from is, what do they do once they get here with us? 
 
At the present time we are very proud of how many of our football players and former football players are giving back to the community.  Some are giving back simply by making the choice to give blood.  They are taking time out of their day and planning their workouts around an activity that may benefit others.  There is no real incentive for them to do this other than giving back and knowing that they are doing the right thing.
 
Others still are giving back to the community in the form of the work they do during our annual community service day.  Our football players spend the day raking lawns, stacking wood, cleaning gutters, etc. with the only real incentive being the feeling that you have done a good deed for someone who appreciates it and needed the help.
 
In a more glamorous, or at least more public way, of giving back is the way some of our football players have joined the volunteer fire department.  These players will help fight local fires (obviously) but will also help with the less glamorous jobs such as fighting the flood waters each spring.  They take time out of their very busy schedules to save someone else's home from the rising water.  They may not be from here but they are treating Mayville just like home.
 
Lastly, and probably the most visible way our current and former football players have been giving back to the community is through coaching.  We have had many football players help out with area schools and their coaching staffs.  Whether it was football season and former players went out and helped coach a local team, it was basketball season and one of the assistants is a current or former Comet Football Player, or the sport was wrestling and the player showed up to help out and share some of their knowledge.  Some of these coaches have been paid but most just want to help out and give back to show how much they love the community.  You have to love it when players treat their current residence more like their own home town.
 
We have been very proud of the work these young men have done.  Whether they are from just up the road or halfway around the country, we are excited to see how they give back to the local communities once they get here with us.  With a group of men like this the 2012 football season should be very exciting for the Comets.
 
Coach Schlieve