BONNYVILLE – The Bonnyville Renegades arrived home late Sunday evening from their championship game against the Lloydminster Steelers with a golden championship cup in tow.
As the 35-member U13 team trickled off the bus after a long day, they were welcomed home by a parking lot full of cheering parents and fans.
The Renegades had a strong regular season with a 6-1 record. The only team the Bonnyville team came up short against this season was the Steelers, their championship opponents.
Until the league championship game, the Steelers had gone undefeated throughout the season.
Prior to Sunday’s match, the team’s head coach Colin Hanusz told Lakeland This Week that the Renegades were heading into the final game as the underdogs but were not to be underestimated.
“We've done a lot of work with the boys preparing for it and we will put on a good game. I think it should be a close game and I think we have what it takes to win it,” said Hanusz, leading up to Sunday’s game.
And win they did. With a final score of 26-18 in favour of the Bonnyville team, the Renegades' hard work and dedication paid off.
On Wednesday, the U13 team gathered for one more team practice to prepare for the championship match despite a snowstorm that turned Walsh Field from green to white in a matter of hours.
The snowy practice perhaps helped the Renegades prepare for the minor football league's final game that was played in below zero temperatures.
Hanusz attributes much of this year's success to the teamwork of the players and help offered by the Bonnyville Bandits bantam coaches and players.
“We've made everything joint so we could teach our new coaches the ropes and proper safe tackle form. It was definitely a huge help to us. In fact, I think a lot of credit goes to those guys who spent the time with us new coaches to make sure we get it right and our record in the season shows that it worked,” said Hanusz.
“The older kids demonstrated all the drills and had the younger kids watch, then they’d replicate that. It was a very good recipe for success.”
Looking back over the season, Hanusz says football is the ultimate team sport. If a team can learn to work together, they can win together.
“You have 12 kids out there at all times. Blocking and tackling is so important, so you have kids out there blocking every play, who aren’t scoring touchdowns but are still so important in the team aspect and the [Renegades] started to get that. It took a couple of weeks of football, but the kids really caught on to that.”
This is Hanusz’s second year coaching the Renegades and his first year being the head coach. Working alongside him were numerous volunteers who helped, including team manager Naomi Huxley and assistant coaches Greg, Nate, Chris and Eric.
