Photo by Tom Gonzales
Several members of the Oakland Raiders attended a celebration for eighth grader Collin Travasos at Harvest Park Middle School in Pleasanton, Calif. on Thursday afternoon.
Travasos participated in the Punt, Pass & Kick competition throughout the 2014 football season, choosing to represent the Oakland Raiders, and won his regional competition, going on to place fourth nationally in his age bracket.
"I think it's amazing for a kid to come out of Pleasanton, to be fourth in the nation at his position at the Punt, Pass & Kick; I think it's a tremendous accomplishment," said RB Maurice Jones-Drew, who attended the event with CB Taiwan Jones and G Kevin Boothe. "I just think that when you see kids like Collin, that can go out there and compete at the highest levels and they're able to compete in front of thousands in the eighth grade, it shows the poise that he has."
Collin was honored in an outdoor ceremony, where members of the Oakland Raiders as well as and principal, Ken Rocha, and Parvin Ahmadi, Superintendent of the Pleasanton Unified School District speaking, offered their public congratulations to him.
"It's a tremendous honor that he has achieved here," Boothe said. "The one thing that struck me about Collin is his calm and cool demeanor. I could see he'll be very successful at whatever he does later in life."
In addition to his accomplishments in the Punt, Pass & Kick competition, Travasos is a goalkeeper for one of the US Soccer Development Academies.
He is also an avid Raiders fan, and said that the decision of which team to represent during the competition was an easy one.
"What other team could I choose?" he said. "Raider Nation. They're committed to excellence."
