Working Class Champs
Star-Telegram.com | 12/20/2005 | Team works to raise money for championship rings
Team works to raise money for championship rings
By KATHERINE CROMER BROCK
Star-Telegram Staff WriterEULESS - The Trinity Trojans football team has the 5A Division I state championship.
It?s had the parade, the glory and the national attention for starting a new dance craze.
All it needs now are the rings.
About 50 of the 85 students on the team are short of cash for the championship rings, which start at about $215. But they?re determined to earn this win, too.
?If it ain?t rough, it ain?t right,? said linebacker Ryan Foster, 17, who was bagging leaves with three soggy teammates at a house in the Wilshire neighborhood. ?That?s been our motto on the team all year.?
The players worked in the cold rain Tuesday raking leaves and doing other odd jobs in neighborhoods around the Euless school. The money they make by the first week of January will go toward the purchase of the rings from Balfour, which extended the down payment deadline.
Offensive lineman Saia Falahola, 17, said the rain made for hard work, ?but I ain?t leaving until it?s done.?
Back in the school?s field house office, Trinity head coach Steve Lineweaver scribbled on a yellow legal pad, adding to the list of ?ring employers? that were calling to make appointments. Lineweaver also spent part of the morning driving groups of kids to and from job sites.
The coach sent an e-mail to the school?s faculty last week to spread the word that his players needed extra help raising money. That note was forwarded throughout the community.
He said one person offered to just purchase rings for the team, but that would be a violation of University Interscholastic League policy prohibiting players from accepting gifts.
?They?re real thankful for the opportunity to work and earn money,? Lineweaver said. ?They?re cheerfully going out there.?
Ada Stephens, 66, who was wearing a ?Got Haka? Got State!? T-shirt, wouldn?t say how much she was paying the players for raking leaves, but said she would pay ?top dollar, because they?re doing a top job.?
?They?re absolutely the best bunch of kids, the most polite, well-mannered, hardworking bunch,? she said.
Stephens pulled Foster and his buddies into her living room around noon, provided them with dry clothes, threw their soaked sweat shirts in the dryer and served them hot chocolate with whipped cream.
It was a welcome break for the students, who had filled nine bags of leaves from the front yard and were getting ready to start on the back.
Players are going to continue working as long as the jobs come in and they still need the money.
Defensive back Matt Steward, 17, said he needs the ring to complete the championship experience.
?It doesn?t feel like we won without the ring,? he said.
Want to help?
Trinity football players are looking for odd jobs in the Euless area to earn money for state championship rings. Contact coach Steve Lineweaver at (817) 399-3672.
It's a frequent lament that the latest generation of kids to traipse through our own alma maters just ain't what we used to be. This bunch seems to be a pretty big exception to that idea. I just cannot say enough good things about this team.
Thank you for the kind comments about our Euless Trinity Trojan football team. They are indeed a great bunch of young men. I would also like to tell you how much I have enjoyed your blog the last few months. Keep up the good work!