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THE MESA TRIBUNE | FEBRUARY 6, 2022
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Peterson retires, Enders named Red Mtn football coach BY ZACH ALVIRA Tribune Sports Editor
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ecoming the head football coach at Red Mountain High School has been a dream for Kyle Enders since he played for the program under legendary coach Jim Jones. It was where he got his first opportunity in coaching at the lower level, learning from former coach Ron Wisniewski and most recently, Mike Peterson. It became well-known that Peterson was grooming Enders to take over the program when it came time for him to step away. That day came on Friday, Jan. 28 when Peterson announced he would officially retire from coaching. Red Mountain’s admin team named Enders just the fourth head coach in program history shortly after. “I’m super excited for this opportunity. I’m fired up to be honest with you,” Enders said. “I know Peterson is going to be here
Kyle Enders, who served as Red Mountain’s defensive coordinator, was named the program’s fourth head coach after Mike Peterson announced he would step down and retire. (Courtesy Red Mountain Athletics) for any questions I have, and he’s been a great mentor. There’s been other opportunities that have come my way, but this is the one where I always thought if I’m
going to make the jump, this is the place I wanted to do it.” A 2007 graduate of Red Mountain, Enders has been a part of the program for more than a decade, well before he began teaching in the district. He started off as an assistant, helping with the linebackers and special teams. Peterson, who was the defensive coordinator at the varsity level under Wisniewski, gave him the opportunity at the varsity level when he was just 23 years old. Eventually, when Peterson took over five years ago, Enders moved up and became the defensive coordinator. Since then, Red Mountain has had a stretch as one of the top defenses in the state, catalyzed by high-powered offenses that made the Mountain Lions a well-rounded team. “I’ve been fortunate enough to work under some really good coaches that gave me opportunities,” Enders said. “Peterson saw something in me that you don’t always see in yourself as a kid.”
Peterson led the Mountain Lions to the postseason four out of his five seasons leading the program. In 2017, he led them to the semifinals. Two years later, they played and lost in overtime to Liberty in the 6A Conference championship game – the first year of the Open Division. In 2020, the “COVID season,” Red Mountain finished 3-4 but bounced back this past season by making a run to the 6A Conference semifinals. Peterson said in a text message that he knew it was time to step away. He informed his players of his decision the same morning Enders was announced as the program’s new head coach. “I told the team this morning: it’s like grandpa says, ‘the two best days & worst days of your life are the day you buy a boat and the day you sell a boat,’” Peterson wrote in the text. “Today is one of those days for me - I’m retiring from coaching.
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Arizona Arsenal to hold tryouts for Premier soccer leagues BY ZACH ALVIRA Tribune Sports Editor
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rizona Arsenal Soccer Club, one of the top organizations for youth soccer in the state, is further expanding its empire to cater to adults looking to play at a high level. Arsenal announced Wednesday it had become the latest club to expand and join the United Premier Soccer League and Women’s Premier Soccer League. The leagues, which cater to players ages 18-30 in a highly competitive club format, are among the largest professional-development organizations in the country and world. Teams in the two leagues span across the country. The women’s league alone has more than 125 teams with Arizona
Arsenal being the latest to join. “We at Arizona Arsenal Soccer Club are super excited about this,” said Ty Iannone, the general manager of Arsenal’s two team joining the Premier Soccer League. “We’re going to expand into the professional soccer realm now. We want to give something to our youth they can strive for and play with. It will be the top team, in some sense.” Iannone said the process of putting these two teams together and joining the UPSL has been a long one. He, alongside Arsenal Technical Director Dave Belfort, have worked countless hours trying to put the logistics in place for the teams to join as expansions for Arizona. But they managed to get it done. Now,
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Arizona Arsenal Soccer Club recently announced it was named an expansion for the United Premier Soccer League, a professional-development league catering to high-level players ranging from ages 18-30. Tryouts will be held in three sessions in February at Bell Bank Park. (Dave Minton/AFN Staff)
