LA Area High School Athletes Participate in ‘Rise with the Rams' During NFL Training Camp

Watch: 'RISE with the Rams' student athlete participants talk about the program that strives to eliminate racial discrimination and improve race relations during LA Rams Training Camp.

Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay runs with quarterback Stetson Bennett (13) during the team's training camp at Loyola Marymount University. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

For the eighth consecutive season, the Los Angeles Rams have partnered with RISE. This national nonprofit educates and empowers the sports community to eliminate racial discrimination, champion social justice, and improve race relations. For the 2025 season, the program included student athletes from two LA area High Schools: Cleveland Charter High School in Reseda, CA, and Alain LeRoy Locke College Preparatory Academy in Los Angeles, CA.

The initiative featured high school athletes with a cross section of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds as well as genders, bringing together both male and female students from tackle and girls' flag football.

Breaking Down the Rise Program

During the “RISE with the Rams” program, the student athletes and coaches were taught the unifying power of sports, how to build positive relationships, how to be a leader, and how to understand and accept cultural competency. The program was broken down into five sessions, which included:

1. 1Understanding our Identities
2. Diversity Concepts
3. Sport as a Vehicle for Change
4. Community Building- Build a Trophy
5. Be a Champion of Change

At Training Camp with the LA Rams

The third session on August 2nd, 2025, brought the participants to the LA Rams Training Camp at Loyola Marymount University, where they discussed bias and using sports as a vehicle for change. After the session concluded, the student athletes and coaches had the opportunity to watch the Rams practice.

“I love the opportunity to come watch and see where maybe one day I can be,” said Dominic Cortez, who is the quarterback and middle linebacker for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

'An Amazing Opportunity'

“It’s an amazing opportunity because I know that many students don’t get the opportunity to show up to the Rams Training Camp,” said Jazmin Picardo, wide receiver for the Cavaliers girls' flag football program. “I’m watching them(the Rams) play, seeing the way that they move the ball, their defense, the way that they run with it, the emotion, it’s an experience and I’m putting notes down.”

Students also commented about what stood out to them during the “Rise with the Rams” modules.

“My future goals after football are to go on to be a great member of society,” said Fernando Abrego, Center for the Cavaliers. He continued, “I’ll try my best to take the lessons I learned (…) to help others that are in need. And with the Rise Program, with the three sessions we’ve been with them, they’ve taught me a lot, like how some people unfortunately have like different situations, how they are viewed. (…) It helped me understand that I’m very privileged with what I have, with the opportunities I have, and that whenever I could, I should give more back to the community.”

Second-year Head football Coach Mario Guzman from Cleveland Charter High School summarized the “Rise with the Rams” program the best in saying, “The program has been great. It allows our students to collaborate with another school that is pretty outside of our area. Collaborate with those students, find similarities but also learn ways to combat social injustices and understand that we’re all one.” He continued, “ It gives our kids a great opportunity just to continue to learn and build more leadership skills, so we were really excited about that. We’ve seen growth in our kids every day since we began the program, so it’s been amazing.”