Photos courtesy of Crystal Pote

It takes strength and perseverance for the football players to take the field in Jack Trice Stadium at Iowa State University, and the same can be said for a Panorama student who joined the Cyclones last weekend.

Panorama sophomore Gavin Pote was honored as Kid Captain at the Cyclones’ victorious home football game versus Louisiana-Monroe. Pote got to walk onto the field with the team, take part in the coin toss, and watch the game on the 50-yard line with his family. Through a partnership with Iowa State Athletics and Blank Children’s Hospital, the Kid Captain program recognizes kids who have faced a challenging medical situation and have been an inspiration to others. Pote was born a micro-preemie, weighing 15 ounces after an emergency cesarean section. Pote’s chances for survival at one point seemed slim and he spent 111 days in the newborn intensive care unit at Blank Children’s. Now at 16 years old, Pote and his family have raised almost $50,000 in the last 15 years for the March of Dimes, an organization that helps other premature babies.

Pote hadn’t ever previously been to an ISU football game, and he says it was his mother Crystal’s idea to apply for Kid Captain, “I didn’t really know that I was (signed up), she already signed me up for it and I thought, ‘Well I don’t think it would be that bad of an idea to see how cool it would be.’”

Pote also received a signed football from Head Coach Matt Campbell and a referee challenge coin. In his free time, Pote is active in 4-H and FFA showing cattle, and has an interest in photography.