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Playing the Long Game: Scholar Athletes Convert Honor into Legacies of Opportunity
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BY JAKE TEN PAS
“Someday, this year’s Scholar Athletes may be in a position where they’re looking back on how they got started in this community, and it’ll resonate even more with them, the significance of it, because they will feel like they earned it,” Anna Friedhoff says.
No maybes about it, the 2004 MAC Scholar Athlete knows this to be true. Although for Friedhoff and cohort-mate Spencer Raymond, the immediate recognition they received was equally rewarding.
“One thing that makes the Scholar Athlete Program unique and really cool is there aren’t a lot of ways to get athletic or scholarly recognition outside your school. In other words, there’s something beyond what you think is your community,” Raymond says.
For Friedhoff, who applied after tearing a tab off a “Band Looking for Bass Player”-style poster advertising the MAC Scholar Athlete (MACSA) opportunity, the revelation that she’d won was a powerful reinforcement of her hard work. “I was very, very happy and grateful and proud of myself to get the award. Because I don’t think I would’ve ever become a MAC member otherwise. It really opened me up to a new part of the world and a new part of Portland.”
Now, 20-plus years later, both Friedhoff and Raymond are not only volunteering their time with the Multnomah Athletic Foundation (MAF), reviewing applications by the latest batch of MACSA hopefuls, they’re also introducing their own children to the club community they earned their way into.
It’s a powerful reminder of the lasting impact the scholarship can have. First, students are honored as sophomores, setting the stage for the remainder of their time in high school, which will continue to impact their college prospects. Then, once they graduate, MAF provides $1,500 to offset educational expenses at any two- or four-year accredited institution. Lastly, the accompanying complimentary MAC membership introduces them to facilities capable of laying the foundation for lifelong athleticism, as well as invaluable social and networking opportunities for themselves and future generations.
“To me, it was about access to the facility. As a water polo player, a pool-sport athlete, you can’t just jump into a pool anywhere and work out like you can with a lot of other sports and other types of venues,” says Raymond, who had already lettered in skiing in addition to water polo. “Access to three different pools was wild, and I think that’s what I took advantage of immediately in the off-season was coming to get in the water.”
Friedhoff says she used her membership all through high school and while playing golf at Gonzaga University. A partner at SKH Family Law since 2019 — before which she clerked for the firm after graduating with a law degree from University of Oregon — she’s now turning her attention to the next phase of life. It’s centered on her son, George.
“I think the next thing that I really need to check off is being a good mom. I see the MAC as a really big part of that, whether it’s through classes, camps, meetups, or any of that,” Friedhoff says. “I want the club to help shape my family, and I think I’ve accomplished a lot of what I set out to accomplish in terms of athletics and scholarship and studies, but now it’s about building my family, and the MAC has a really big part in that.”
Raymond graduated from Syracuse University and currently works as senior production coordinator for MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, via production company IMG. As someone who helps connect soccer fans around the world to their beloved sport, he looks forward to MAC connecting his son to a world of sports opportunities.
“I definitely hope that Anan picks a couple of sports and leans into them. What I don’t want him to do is specialize too early or too much in a single sport,” Raymond says. “I think the MAC is a great venue to explore different sports and different interests and test them out, whether they be a formal school sport or a club sport. That’s the biggest advantage of the MAC — opportunity to develop baseline athletic skills.
Both former Scholar Athletes also continue to commit to the development of kids in the community by bringing their high standards and first-hand experience with the program to bear on the application process. Friedhoff references legendary long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine’s quote, “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”
“I’m not an easy reviewer, but I love seeing multi-sport athletes. I love seeing a lot of community service,” she explains. “I see these 15-, 16-year-olds as just giving their best and showing their best to us, and that’s the gift. We receive that gift and identify it.”
“I recognize that the program has changed slightly, and it’s more about giving opportunity than rewarding past experience,” Raymond adds. “But to me, I see it as a recognition. You’ve worked your butt off academically and athletically, and we’re rewarding you with access to this place.”
As this year’s MAC Scholar Athletes walked the red carpet at the MAF Scholarship Event on June 11, perhaps they saw themselves through a new lens, one that considered the broader community’s recognition of their own accomplishments.
“That has just got to be an exhilarating experience for those kids,” Raymond speculates. He and Friedhoff have both served time on a variety of club committees, which presented professional development and networking opportunities that could be available to the scholarship’s recipients in the coming years. “Portland’s a small town, so you can always benefit by developing relationships via MAC committees.”
“If you are set up for success at a young age, I expect you to be successful,” Friedhoff says. “It’s not an unreachable goal. I know they can do it because I did it.”
About the Program
In its 50-plus-year history, the MAC Scholar Athlete program has evolved into a beloved tradition. Each year, 30 area high schools nominate a trio of sophomores, with the final recipient from each school chosen through an application process managed by the Multnomah Athletic Foundation. The program offers students more than access to world-class athletic facilities; it nurtures a sense of community and provides a supportive environment for personal growth and development. To learn more, see: MultnomahAthleticFoundation.com/scholarships/macsa.
