City wins state awards for water safety, Esports

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"Safe in the Water" is now an award-winning program. Photo by Victor Moreno

The City of Maricopa received two prestigious awards in the Outstanding Program category from the Arizona Parks and Recreation Association.

APRA hosted a virtual conference this week.

James Schultz and Joshua Bowman received the award for the “Safe in the Water” program in the Educational Program category, and Matthew Reiter took home the award in the Sports Category on behalf of Maricopa Esports.

“This is such an honor to be recognized by the APRA against all other sports programs in Arizona,” said Reiter, marketing and development coordinator.

“All of us were incredibly humbled and excited to receive this award,” said Schultz, recreation coordinator of aquatics. “It’s a testament to all of the hard work and dedication by all of our coordinators here at Copper Sky.”

“Safe in the Water” was a partnership with Global Water Resources and Maricopa Unified School District to teach young students to swim and feel confident in the water.

APRA awards recognize the development, implementation or coordination of the most outstanding programs. Every program is ranked on a 100-point scale. Programs must be started within 14 months of the submission date in order to qualify.