“More Than Just A Game”: The Fiesta Bowl focuses on giving back to the community

While what happens on the field tends to be what gets the most press coverage when it comes to sporting events, but many sports organizations also tend to give back to the communities in many important ways. The VRBO Fiesta Bowl is no exception to that rule.

“We are football, but really football for two months out of the year, as opposed to being community 12 months out of the year,” says Brenda Puga, community relations manager for the Fiesta Bowl with an emphasis on nonprofit partnerships. Puga worked at Mattress Firm where she assisted with its foster care program and helped liaison with the Sacramento Kings. She also worked for Special Olympics Arizona.

In her current role, she assists with player outreach events and raffles and oversees the organization’s grant cycle. This year, the organization received 300 applications. A committee of 32 people reviews the submissions. Forty organizations were awarded grants this year.

In 2022 alone, the Fiesta Bowl organization gave away $3 million to nonprofits located in Arizona that focus on three key areas: youth, sports and education.

“One of the great things about youth sports and education for us is that we realize bringing all of those together to embrace the fact that we’re in a space to encourage and promote the next generation. Sports is a catalyst of us getting into all of these different spaces and having that opportunity to engage and intrigue different populations,” she says. “We always want to make sure that we are supporting the next generation of leaders. And overall education, whether you’re a student or a teacher, everyone has to go through the educational system. That’s going to be something that’s important for us to support because it’s just a huge link of not only who we are, but schools develop, whether it’s your friendships, your choices for a future career path to your memories. I think a lot of those things help round out the different populations we choose to serve.”

Grants come in three tiers: Spirit of the Fiesta Bowl at $100,000; Touchdown Grant at $50,000; and the Field Goal Grant at $25,000. In this year’s grant cycle, the Chinle Planting Hope Community Center is one of the recipients of a Touchdown Grant. Located in Chinle, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation, Chinle Planting Hope plans to use the grant money to start new projects like a STEM program, an imagination station where kids can experience hands-on play and a bookmobile.

Additionally, the Fiesta Bowl has a program called The Palo Verde Fiesta Bowl Wishes for Teachers program. Any Arizona teacher can fill out an online application of specific wishes, and 400 teachers are randomly selected to receive $2,500 to fulfill their wish lists. Teachers can request funds for field trips. One teacher used the grant money to purchase instruments to start a mariachi club.

“It’s recognizing all the hard work that teachers are putting into the students that they serve and just helping them bridge that gap and provide even more resources for them to be successful,” says Puga.

In 2021, the Fiesta Bowl grants funded 10 Ohmni pro robots for the Phoenix Children’s Hospital. The organization is also building a playground (one of many in the Grand Canyon State) in Camp Verde in Northern Arizona and aims to touch the lives of Arizona residents.

“We are doing a lot to make sure that we spread our wings all across the state to mark that we’re more than just a game, and we’re farther than the Valley,” says Puga.

The Fiesta Bowl has been held in Arizona annually since 1971. This year’s Fiesta Bowl will be played on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2022 at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale. In this semifinal showdown, top college football teams will face off. The winner will head to the playoffs. Accompanying the game is the Fiesta Bowl parade in downtown Phoenix on Dec. 17. Grant recipients and wish list teachers are welcome to walk in the parade. Two floats are dedicated to Fiesta Bowl charities.

“I think the slogan ‘more than just a game’ fits it perfectly. Because whether it’s a memory I have at the actual game, or if it’s just someone I met who has a memory of the Fiesta Bowl, we can all tie it back together and to create relationships based on everyone’s different experience with the sport,” says Puga.

Sports isn’t just about the game, and sports is not just for men, either. Julie Atherton has spent most of her career working in sports. She’s the director of administration for the Fiesta Bowl. She started her career with the Chicago White Sox and has also worked for the Arizona Coyotes and OB Sports Golf Management. She works in human resources doing benefits and payroll in addition to working with the IT vendor. She also oversees the Fiesta Bowl Museum and the offices in Scottsdale. On a personal level, she’s also been a fan of the White Sox for years.

“Until I actually started working in sports, I became more of a fan for, obviously, the team I was working for but then I think that carried on to this day. My baseball team is still the White Sox. I still follow them and want them to have a great season,” she says.

In her 20-plus year career, she’s seen more women hold leadership positions at sports organizations. At one time, that would have been unheard of.

“Baseball finally has a female general manager in Miami, and I was fortunate enough to work with Kim [Ng] with the Chicago White Sox and have seen her career grow over the years. She interviewed for that role with a lot of teams, and it finally took someone like Derek Jeter to give her that opportunity,” she says. “When I first started in sports, you just didn’t see a woman holding a director title. It was kind of a wow factor. Now, anyone shouldn’t even blink.”

She acknowledges that even though women have made great strides in sports, there’s still work to be done.

“It just goes back to the respect, and I think for women, you’re going to have to work yourself up to that point and have that respect at the table,” she says. “Take away the gender aspect of that, and it may seem intimidating, and it may seem out of reach, but there’s a lot of stories out there and a lot of females that have broken that barrier. I’m sure earlier in their career they were told, ‘Oh, you’ll only make it this far.’ And they’ve proven to the naysayers that they can continue to succeed. Sports isn’t just one gender. It’s for anyone who wants it and has the passion and enjoys a career in sports.”

Ultimately sports teams couldn’t exist without the communities supporting them, which is why giving back is such a critical part of the Fiesta Bowl’s mission.

“It’s not just collecting the revenue that comes into that sports team and keeping it to themselves. It’s making sure that it’s distributed back out,” she says. “Sports would not be as successful or have the financial success that they have without the community that supports them. I think it’s about giving back and recognizing what is important in the community or the state that that sports team is in.”