ST. PAUL – The 2022 St. Paul Bengals cheered in unison as they received their championship rings last Wednesday evening in a ceremony at the St. Paul Regional High School, surrounded by friends and families.
Todd Tanasichuk, the team’s head coach, praised the team's dedication and resilience during the season. He recalled how things were a bit uncertain for the bantam football team at the start of the season.
Then the team played Bonnyville at a jamboree, “and we felt pretty good,” said Tanasichuk, as he looked at the players, while some nodded their heads. “We felt that we could compete with anybody in our league."
Things started to roll really well after that, recalled Tanasichuk.
Then the team lost a game in Bonnyville. “Some people might say... that looks like a little blemish on the record... but I've always been a believer that losing can make you better."
And just like he believed, the team improved, and their hard work paid off – defeating the Bonnyville Bandits and being crowned as the champions of the Wheatland Bantam Football League.
The victory led them to face off against the Grand Prairie Broncos for a spot at the provincial championship game. At one point in the game, the Bengals were down 14 points.
With such a deficit, Tanasichuk recalled it may have been the end of the season for the team. But contrary to his expectations, the Bengals rallied to win the game 34-32.
“While I might have said that maybe we're done... you never did,” said Tanasichuk, speaking to the players. “You kept fighting... and that’s another lesson that you can draw on.”
The Bengals then kept up the momentum, moving on to win the Tier I provincial final against the Edmonton Chargers – their second provincial championship since 2017.
Football is a lot like life, Tanasichuk told his players. There will be downtimes, but he urged them to “keep fighting, keep staying positive, [and] eventually you’ll come out on the other side and good things will happen again.”
He also encouraged the players moving on to play with the St. Paul Lions, reminding them that he will be watching them, hoping that they will win a provincial championship at the high school level too.
“You're a provincial champion, and that can never be taken away from you. But go get another one.”