On Tuesday, November 14, the Los Angeles Rams and 24 Hour Fitness teamed up to engage local youth in a variety of activity drills and encourage them to be active for at least 60 minutes each day. Rams tight end TYLER HIGBEE and cornerback TROY Hill, team mascot Rampage, members of the Rams staff, and 24 Hour Fitness professionals led kids in a circuit of exercises that incorporated basic football skills at 24 Hour's Simi Valley Sport location.

As a Marketing Specialist with 24 Hour Fitness, Michelle Archuleta believes that professional athletes can serve as strong examples for what can be achieved when dedicating oneself to a healthy and active lifestyle. In her pursuit to consistently fulfill the 24 Hour Fitness mission, helping others improve their lives through fitness, Archuleta hopes the Rams' visit will positively impact our local youth's relationship to exercise and their decisions to establish and maintain healthy habits.

"It means a lot to the kids to have people like Tyler Higbee and Troy Hill here, who have shown what you can do when you put your mind and body through great lengths," said Archuleta. "It's a great representation of the health and lifestyle we like to encourage and I think they'll leave a huge imprint on the kids. They get to have this experience with professional football players. Playing with them for 60 minutes is an awesome opportunity and hopefully it encourages them to stick with a healthy lifestyle."

Rams starting Tight End Tyler Higbee has always enjoyed playing a role in the team's PLAY60 initiatives. He understands the effect he and his teammates can have on future generations, just as he had once been a kid idolizing the kinds of people he has now successfully become. For Higbee, these events are a way to motivate youth in some of the ways he remembers drawing inspiration, through voluntary and personal engagement.

"Anytime you can get out here in the community and get the kids to have fun and get them moving around with some activity, it's fun," said Higbee. "I'm in a position where people want to see me, and it's unbelievable. I was the same little kid back then as they are now, looking up to people like myself. Now that I'm in that position I think it's cool to get out here and just have fun with them. They make it easy for me."

One participant in particular, Chase Martinez, was especially moved by Higbee and the Rams' PLAY60 efforts. Although Chase was unable to participate in some of the drills due to some physical limitations, he was still encouraging others and making the most of his PLAY60 experience. With some help from Higbee pushing his wheelchair, Chase was able to weave in and out of cones in a display of heart, confidence, and some PLAY60 camaraderie.

"I had a really great time and it was fun getting to meet Tyler Higbee," said Chase. "It was special because it wasn't my mom or my grandma pushing me, it was a professional football player and I felt really excited he did all those things for me. It made me want to be more active with football players and PLAY60. I really appreciate Tyler doing drills with me and I'll be watching him on TV and on Sunday!"

"I could tell he was excited. He told me he was a huge Rams fan," said Higbee when asked about helping Chase through drills. "Obviously he wasn't able to do the all the things the others were, so it was cool to get him out there and do a few things that he can do and me being able to do that with him was cool."

To cap off Chase's experience, the Rams provided him with tickets to last Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints at the Coliseum. At the game, Chase was presented a Higbee-signed photo of him and his new hero together at the PLAY60 Event at 24 Hour Fitness.

The event was part of the NFL's PLAY60 initiative, a national youth health and fitness campaign focused on increasing the wellness of young fans by encouraging the next generation of youth to be the most active and healthy. For more information about the Rams PLAY60 efforts, please click here.