The St. Paul Bengals celebrated their final act together as a football team last Thursday, as the boys in the bantam team accepted their championship rings to put the icing on the cake of a great season.
“It’s been wonderful to see your growth as football players on the field, but also as gentlemen off the field,” said Bengals’ head coach, Seth Henderson, at the ring ceremony, which took place at St. Paul Regional High School. He noted that both parents and kids had been asking about the rings for a few weeks, and he was honoured to present them with the object of their desire.
Barry Dmitri, from Jostens, handed out the rings to individual players, asking them to wait and open the boxes together in their final act as one team.
“It’s all about your story,” he said. The rings, designed and made by Jostens, acknowledged each player’s name, number and position, as well as the team’s winning of the Wheatland Bantam Football League and the Northern Alberta Tier III championship.
The students opened their rings and immediately put them on, hoisting them up and admiring their heft and weight.
“It’s amazing,” said team quarterback Brenden McKay, as his fellow player Dylon Machura added it was “overwhelming” to have a sign of the team’s success.
“It makes me feel proud of the team. We did a lot this season,” he said.
As the players looked down at their rings gleaming on their fingers, the Bengals’ Dmitri Krys reflected on the repeated days of long practices and games, and said, “All the hard work was definitely worth it.
