UW Signee Maurice Heims Left Germany and Found a Football Home
Maurice Heims is a German-exchange student who plays football for Santa Margarita Catholic High School in the Los Angeles area. It's his home away from his European home. Soon he will be living in Seattle after signing a national letter of intent to a receive a University of Washington scholarship. Yet another new home.
It's all exciting for him, but not always easy.
"I miss my family in Germany, we are really close," Heims said. "But the distance between us also helps me appreciate the family I have here in America even more."
Projected as an edge rusher for the Huskies, the 6-foot-6, 245-pound Heims will go from one football setting to another, but stay as virtually connected as he can to the loved ones he left behind in Hamburg, Germany.
Through the power of the internet, Maurice has been able to share his football accomplishments with his family members. He's been on his own for other moments.
"I committed to Washington on my 18th birthday," he recalled.
This past summer, his grandmother passed away and it hurt him to not be physically present to support his parents.
His football family has enabled him to cope with his uprooted living arrangement and the things he's missed back home..
"Every year our high school coaches select 10 leaders from the team," said Heims, who was one of those chosen this time. "We are mentors to younger players on the team."
In addition to being workout partners, the leaders hold other players accountable in their daily lives, which includes academic responsibilities.
"We have a 'Pack System' on our team," Heims said of the coach's mantra. "Our coaches call it D.A.W.G mentality. The D stands for desire, the A stands for attention, the W is willpower and G is for gang, meaning we stick together."
The Pack System has served as a replacement for his actual family back in Germany, some 5,000 miles away.
"It's all a brotherhood," Heims said. "The same way a family lifts each other up and helps each other, that's how we do it in our team."
The bond from the 10 leaders is continually passed down through the team.
"Seniors are responsible for showing underclassmen the ropes around school and team activities," Heims said. "It's very similar to how the Washington team is."
An auxiliary benefit of being a Santa Margarita leader is it will help him be a better listener and follower when he arrives in Montlake next year. The Huskies' Zion Tupuola-Fetui already is offering guidance, as is former UW outside linebacker Joe Tryon.
"I did not know the impact of being a Washington commit would have on my school's name, on my name and on my teammates," he said.
With so many eyes on him, Heims embraces the responsibility of being an example for his teammates who also dream of being a D-1 athlete.
"I was already a hard worker in the weight room and on the field, but now I am representing Washington," he said. "It's important for me to show them the way."