TAHOE CITY, Calif. — The North Tahoe football team got to work off the field this past weekend, coming together to tackle a community project at Anchor Point Lodge.

Roughly 30 of the Lakers, along with parents, and with the support of the Rotary Club of Tahoe City, spent Saturday cleaning up green waste around the property.

“Service above self is the rotary motto, and we want to live by that,” said Head Coach Ryan Brolliar. “We love giving back to our community and we want to be a football team that always does so.”

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The Lakers played a game at Pershing County on Friday night and following a more than two-hour bus ride back home, headed over to the lodge the following day to clear out pine needles, remove dead trees, and break down old cabins ahead of a women’s retreat scheduled for this weekend at the property.

“We even had kids doing a bunch of dishes at one point,” added Brolliar. “It’s our philosophy. Every year we’re doing at least one project. We help the community that helps us. We give back to those that give to us.”

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This is the second consecutive season the team has gathered at the lodge, which partners with churches, ministries, and families to provide a retreat space,

Last year, players removed dead trees and underbrush around nine acres of land surrounding the lodge in an effort to create a fire barrier. Brolliar said he’d like to see the North Tahoe football program engage in other community projects in the coming season.

“I’d like to switch it up,” he said. “I’d like to pop around and help as many people as we can each year.”

Brolliar, a second-year coach for the football team, grew up in the North Tahoe area, and is looking to reestablish the Lakers as a contender at the Class 2A level.

“We’re building,” said Brolliar. “This year we’ve got one senior that’s played football, a couple juniors, and predominantly sophomores.  It’s part of the build. The sophomores are awesome. The freshmen are awesome. We’re building a culture here.”

Relying heavily on underclassmen, the Lakers have gone 0-5 so far this season. North Tahoe (0-5, 0-4 Northern League) will look for its first win on Saturday at home against Coral Academy of Science – Reno (3-3, 3-1 Northern League). Kickoff is scheduled for 10 a.m. for junior varsity and 1 p.m. for varsity.

Next week, the Lakers will bring temporary lighting to their stadium for a Friday night homecoming game against Dayton. Varsity will take the field at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13.

Going forward, Brolliar not only plans to improve the team’s play on the field, but for spectators in the stands as well with new bleachers set to be installed ahead of next season.

“Little by little, it’s starting to add up,” he said. “It’s going to be exciting.”