Jack Connolly is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Chandler Prep for AZPreps365.com

“In a society where a victim mentality has been popularized,” Chandler Prep Dean of Students Pierre Marcos said, “Avery Hamler has done the opposite.”

Hamler, a senior football player at Chandler Prep, has shown remarkable resilience since arriving at the academy in sixth grade. His most recent setback — a season-ending avulsion fracture in his right knee  -- was suffered Oct. 9 in the Titans’ 68-0 win over ALA–Anthem South.

“He’s certainly the heart and soul of our football team,” Chandler Prep coach Chris Ator said. “The only thing that’s changed is that he’s not playing.”

Hamler’s bruising running style and nine rushing TDs this season have caught the attention of college coaches, but his dedication and leadership have garnered the respect and trust of his teammates and coaches.

“It’s the emotional side of it,” said Aaron Crawford, a Titans wide receiver who has been Hamler’s friend since middle school. “You see his passion, and it makes you want to play as hard as him.”

Hamler started playing football in seventh grade but spent his first three seasons on the offensive line. He hated being a lineman, but coaches placed him there because he was a bigger player and didn’t possess the athleticism to be a playmaker. After his ninth grade season, he committed to losing weight and getting faster and stronger to convert to running back.

“He would show up to the field at five in the morning to train before school,” said Adrian De Cossio, Chandler Prep's offensive line coach and Hamler’s former teammate.  “Doing the ladder drills, gassers, agility — all of the drills that nobody wants to do.”

Hamler feels at home on the football field, but he carries immense weight in his personal life. Since his parents split during his freshman year, he has spent time living with various family members and Chandler Prep families.

“That’s when I realized that my path is going to be different than everybody else’s,” Hamler said. “But I didn’t want to let my circumstances define me. I began thinking to myself, ‘How can I make my life as simple as possible?’”

He began waking himself up in the morning, making his bed and fixing his own meals as part of his daily routine. Controlling what he could control allowed him to reclaim a sense of peace and empowerment.

“I always joke with him that he’s a 30-year-old in a 17-year-old’s body,” Ator said. “Seeing him handle things with a positive attitude is impressive because most kids wouldn’t be able to deal with what he’s been through. He’s taken everything on the chin, and you can see it in how he acts with people on a day-to-day basis.”

During his freshman and sophomore years, Hamler treated football as an escape — a way to change his life through college-football dreams. The challenge of attending the state’s top-ranked grade 6-12 school pushed him to translate his focus from the field to the classroom.

“Until my junior year, I’d been in a different house each year,” Hamler said. “It’s been a struggle to find stability. Freshman and sophomore year, I was depending on football to change my life.”

Before his junior year, he moved in with the Scharber family, who helped him realign his mindset and establish a consistent routine.

“I realized there is more to life than football,” Hamler said. “The lessons I’m learning now are preparing me for life after football.”

The wisdom Hamler has gained through adversity is already guiding younger players in the program battling their personal internal battles.

“I see him as not only one of my best friends, but also a big brother,” sophomore running back Mar’shawn Britt said. “When I first got here last year, he welcomed me with open arms — introducing me to his friends, teaching me the game of football and helping me mature off the field.”

Hamler has taken Britt under his wing, teaching him the playbook, breaking down film and helping him adjust to the academy’s academic rigor — and to life. This week, Britt took over the starting running back job in Hamler’s absence.

“Avery is the embodiment of the culture we are trying to build inside our football program,” De Cossio said. “I introduce him all the time to the middle schoolers and incoming freshmen I coach. This is a guy you want to emulate.”