Forged by the desert, fueled by purpose: Hi-Desert 29ers take field with goal beyond scoreboard
Garrett Hottle
TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) The Hi-Desert 29ers are an amateur team training in the summer months – and competing with passion. This summer is different though, players are taking the field, with the larger goal of bettering their community and in memory of a fallen hero.
Back under the bright desert sun again, the Hi-Desert 29ers have arrived. Starting a new season at Luckie Park, they’re welcoming anyone with ambition to play and will to win.
“We typically recruit those players coming straight outta high school, players who had hopes of playing college ball but they never had a shot. Players just sitting on the couch just learning football,” team founder Shaka Gray explained. “This is a community team — of the community, by the community.”
Their roster is composed of military personnel, locals, and first-time players aged 18 through 52. These players play throughout the year at times in triple-digit heat with a goal greater than the scoreboard.
“Passion is off the charts,” Gray explained. “Because at a specific practice, say this time of year, it’s probably 95, heading into 100 degrees. Well, when we’re practicing at 5:00, it’s 106 degrees.”
However, this season is with a heavy heart. They still grieve the loss of Sgt. Robert McDonald — a Marine, a coach, a friend who was shot in an unprovoked attack last year.
News Channel 3 first reported on McDonald’s death in May 2024.
“We just finished constructing a banner that is going to be carried at our next game,” Gray explained. “And it’s just devoted entirely to him. It’s going to be at every single one of our games. Regardless of whether things go right or things go wrong, we know he is with us when we’re playing on the football field. That’s how moved we are.”
For Gray, who grew up in foster care, it is not just a football team. It’s a foundation, a family, and a place where everyone gets a shot.
“We’re in a great place because the community understands our passion,” he said. “There is no question in the players’ minds, in the minds of the city councilmen, in the minds of community members — they know this program is going to be here.”
For more information on the Hi-Desert 29ers and how you can participate, click this link.