LANCASTER – The Eastside Lions of Lancaster were $7,000 in the hole at the start of the season, after a vendor took the team’s money but failed to produce their custom jerseys.
The youth football team worked hard to turn the tragic story around, said President Robert Lopez.
“We went on to play our games and three of our teams made it to ‘Super Bowl’ and all three teams won,” Lopez stated. “We are very proud of these kids, as they played their hearts out.”
Saturday afternoon, the youths were rewarded with trophies and super bowl rings for their win, and more importantly, for their optimism and triumph in the face of adversity. Special awards were also presented to outstanding players.
President’s awards went to:
- Mitey Mite Dion Carolina
- Freshmen Rajveer Gill
- Sophomore Bobby Cantoral
- Junior Randy Clemens
- Senior Bill Kane
In addition, the Mitey Mites awarded:
- MVP to Floyd Chalk
- Quarterback of the year to Jayden Jackson
- Rookie of the Year to Gavin DePedro
- Defensive Player of the Year to Carmel Crunk
In the Senior Division, awardees included:
- Iron Man of the Year – David Torres
- Offensive Lineman of the Year – Anthony Lopez
- Offensive Player of the year – Earl Cox
- MVP – John Richardson
- Prettiest of the Year – Nehemiah Ross
In honor of having played for the Eastside Lions for quite a few years, eight players were given Lions For Life Awards, including:
- Luis Delgado
- Billy Kane
- Jonathan Cardoza
- Gloria Luna
- David Torres
- Michael Torres
- Anthony Lopez
- Christopher Ramirez
This was an outstanding day where every player was given their due and went home wearing a smile, according to team treasurer Caroline Roth.
Helping with the presentation was the Executive Board of Directors, President Robert Lopez, Vice President Jeanice Boullard, Secretary Melisa Simmons, Treasurer Caroline Roth, Concessions Director Roxanne DeMoica, Commissioner Michael DeMoica, Chapter Athletic Director LaTanya Tobias, Cheer Director Jessie Delgado and Football Director Ali Daniels. Assisting the Cheer Director were Jane Luna and Maricela Cardoza from Team Cheer.
The Eastside Lions are proud of how far they have come and are looking forward to an exciting 2013 season. Early registration sign-ups will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday February 2, 2013 at Round Table Pizza, located on 10th Street West in Lancaster. For more information, contact Caroline Roth at 661-917-1428 or email eastsidelionsfc@yahoo.com. All inquiries are welcome.
Eastside Lions of Lancaster Youth Football & Cheer is a non-profit organization in Lancaster. The organization services a diverse community of young people, ages 6 -14, by offering up a safe and sane youth sports program aimed at keeping young people off the streets and giving them an outlet to practice good team sportsmanship.
“Our young people come to us from all walks of life and we accept all ethnic backgrounds,” stated President Robert Lopez. “As an organization, we try to focus on a part of the community who often is overlooked by offering sponsorship to the under privileged and include young people who come from broken homes.”
“We successfully sponsor some of these hard hit young people, which allows them to participate in a sport they might otherwise not be able to take part in. They work hard in return for this sponsorship and are grateful for the opportunity to play,” Lopez continued.
Lopez also recounted the story of how the youth football team’s season got off to a horrific start, when the team was scammed out of their custom jerseys. Read his story below:
“I was approached by George Josephs who is the owner of Corsair which is a sports apparel manufacturer located in Long Beach. He got our name from the conference website that we belong to which is located in the High Desert. He presented a proposal to manufacturer custom made game jerseys for our team at a reasonable price and in a timely manner. We worked together going back and forth with jersey designs and finally settled on one that was beautiful and one to be proud of. In return for an agreement to provide 240 uniforms with a delivery date of end of July or early August, the Eastside Lions paid Mr. Joseph the sum of $7,000.00. Since the beginning of the season, the look of excitement on our young peoples’ faces when they looked at the sample of our uniform was priceless. We couldn’t wait for distribution day, which was to be followed by picture day on 9/23/2012.
Imagine the utter shock and horror I experienced when I received a call from Mr. Joseph telling me that he didn’t have enough cash flow in his business and would be unable to deliver our game jerseys or refund us any portion of our $7,000.00. He stated that he in fact was probably going to be filing for bankruptcy. We were left with nowhere to turn except to pick up the unfinished black jerseys (only half of what was owed to us) and have them decorated by Evans in Garden Grove. Needless to say, they were not the ones we wanted but the final product came out okay. To turn a tragic story around, we went on to play our games and three of our teams made it to Super Bowl and all three teams won.”
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FYI says
The kids have to have good grades to play. They have to turn in progress reports and report cards. These kids are excellent.. I was the A.D. for them & they are a special group Of young men.. I’m Proud of the EAST SIDE LIONS FOOTBALL & CHEER…Bringing it home with all the troubles being left in the dust.. Stealing from Kids…Wow… God can deal with him better than any of us….
dumbandblind says
What about excelling in academics?
Kel says
Who said these guys weren’t excelling in academics? As a matter of fact the boys need to be doing good in school just to get on the team. So there!! This story is not about academics, it’s about sports. Now can’t you just congratulate them for the victory and be done? Great job boys!!!
Tyrus says
Congratulations Lions! Way to overcome.
roxy says
Football players and cheerleaders must maintain a good grades to be able to participate kids also recognized for their good grades.