BOSTON – Boston’s Positive Coaching Alliance honored student athletes from across New England who made a difference through sports Wednesday night.
The students were recognized for their commitment on and off the bench, and one recipient’s emotional story embodies everything the award was created for.
Mia Arrieta of Middletown, Rhode Island had never met Maddie Potts, but when they were playing against each other in a soccer game Maddie collapsed and later died.
What Mia did, was turn that loss into a remarkable legacy.
“It's one the most impactful if not the most impactful things that's happened to me so far in my life,” she said.
Maddie had suffered an acute brain aneurism at 17 years old.
“I had the responsibility of helping my team deal with the loss and how to get out of it and look at Maddie's life as a legacy,” Mia said.
After learning more about Maddie, Mia said embodying everything she believed in as a student athlete became her new purpose.
“It's not something I can let go. It's something I can use to make me a better person, but also other people a better person,” she said.
For Maddie's parents, there couldn't have been a better person to carry on their daughter's legacy of sportsmanship.
“She was just a leader because she led by example and she tried to do all the things student athletes should represent,” Stephanie Potts said.
On Wednesday night, the Positive Coaching Alliance awarded Mia and Maddie's parents using her story to serve a greater purpose.
“I think her mom has recognized the loss has been truly unbearable but has turned it into something truly positive,” Executive Director of the Positive Coaching Alliance Beth Maloney said.
The Potts family has also started a foundation in Maddie's name to fund scholarships for student athletes.
Other athletes honored Wednesday include Sam Kennedy from TOWN who took the lead in an anti-racism campaign, and several other students.
To learn more, visit the Positive Coaching Alliance website.
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