ST. PAUL – The St. Paul Bengals and the St. Paul Lions were honoured for the accomplishments during the St. Paul Football awards night on Dec. 8 at the St. Paul Regional High School.
Before a crowd of supporters, parents, and players from both football teams, Bengals’ head coach Todd Tanasichuk – who is also a former coach of the Lions – touted 2022 as the greatest year ever for St. Paul Football.
St. Paul Football has existed as a club for 39 years, and in the “previous 38 years, which included 56 teams” of both the Lions and the Bengals, “we had four teams reach a provincial final and one team win in 2017,” said Tanasichuk.
“This year, we went from four provincial finals to six, and we added another provincial championship while coming so close to another,” said Tanasichuk. “Our football program is now clearly one of the best in the province – but it wasn’t always that way.”
Lions
Tanasichuk recalled the history of St. Paul Football, explaining that during the first 16 years of St. Paul Football’s existence, the Lions only won 23 games in total. The Lions also never made it to a Wheatland Football League Championship or played at the provincial level.
“The organization struggled to get players and coaches and was often disparaged within our community,” said Tanasichuk. “At times, it almost folded.”
He added, “Even then, there were people working tirelessly to keep the St. Paul Lions going and to make it better.”
Then in the early 2000s, Tanasichuk said things began to improve when the Lions built their own clubhouse, installed new bleachers, a spotter’s booth, and a score clock. Tanasichuk credited Roger Girard and Claude Vachon, who were “instrumental in getting our organization to the next level.”
The team then started winning more games and championship games, according to Tanasichuk. “Do you know that other than the Lloydminster teams, only one other has won a WFL Championship in the last 20 years?”
“That’s the Lions, and we’ve won five,” said Tanasichuk,
Bengals created
Then, the Bengals bantam football team was formed in 2004, initially coached by Steve Johnson and John Lumby, feeding the Lions more experienced players and leading to more success, according to Tanasichuk. By 2013, the Bengals won two championships of their own, while the Lions made it to provincials eight times.
In the last six seasons, the Bengals played at the Wheatland Bantam Football League Championship five times, winning two league championships and two provincial championships.
The Lions also made it to Tier IV Provincial finals three times in the last four seasons, cementing the team as one of the best Tier IV football teams in the province.
“St. Paul Football is now a source of pride to our community and surrounding area,” said Tanasichuk.
“We continue to provide young people with the opportunity to learn tough lessons and characteristics through football that will make them better people in their future,” he said. Those important life lessons date “back to 1984 when St. Paul Football began, and is really our purpose.”
Winning and losing
Lions head coach Mark Tichkowsky echoed many of Tanasichuk’s sentiments during his speech, which included congratulating both the Bengals and the Lions for their accomplishments over the past season.
While the Lions lost at the 2022 Alberta Bowl, Tichkowsky said he is proud of the team’s performance. He recalled when the Lions beat Sexmith with only 40 seconds left on the clock and stated that lessons could be learned from the victory that would pay off later in life.
The lessons include “as simple as learning never to quit,” said Tichkowsky.
Winning is a big part of the game, but “it’s not the only part,” because “there’s more to life than winning,” said Tichkowsky, just like the “laughs of in the locker room... [and] watching Helmon dance on the bus... We’re close as family.”
He then quoted one of Bear Bryant’s famous words – “losing doesn’t make me want to quit.”
Instead, “it makes me want to fight that much harder,” he said. “So how much harder you guys want to fight is up to you guys.”
Recognition
Both coaches thanked their fellow coaches for helping lead and support both teams.
Derek Zapisocki, Jake Battenfeld, Steve Johnson, and Brady Fodness make up the rest of the coaching staff for the St. Paul Bengals. John Lumby, Dave McLellan, Kim Werenka, Steve Johnson, Maurice Brousseau, Matt Kotowich, Kurtis Stolth, and trainer Andrea Babiuk make up the coaching staff for the St. Paul Lions.
The head coaches also thanked all those who supported the St. Paul football teams in all ways.
During the award ceremony, many people were named and recognized, including the Cheremshynski family, Roger Girard, Darryl Peters and Lori-Anne Peters, who helped maintain the playing field despite the winter weather.
The wives of the coaches from both teams were also given special thanks for their support.
Tanasichuk, gave thanks to all the others, who “volunteered thousands of hours in total to give an opportunity for young people to play the greatest sport in the world.”
While everyone could not be named, Tanasichuk said, “all should be thanked.” Tichkowsky agreed as he referred to “the old saying that it takes a village to raise a child.”
Tichkowsky added that in football, it also “takes an entire community to keep a strong football program going.”
2022 Lions Awards
Most Valuable Player - Luke Germain
Most Valuable Offensive Player - Ryan Fodchuk
Most Valuable Defensive Player - Helmon Ndose and Zach Quinton
Leadership - Jacob Lazowski
Best Offensive Lineman - Logan Peters
Best Defensive Lineman - Helmon Ndose
Rookie of the Year - Aron Michaud
Most Improved - Brett Barton
Randall Krys Award for Most Heart - Zach Kabyn
Ironman (two-way player) Award - Ryan Songer
2022 Bengals Awards
Most Valuable Player - Joseph Pilipchuk
Most Valuable Offensive Player - Ezra Kornelsen and Aaron Sachko
Most Valuable Defensive Player - Kayden Taschuk and Zack Germain
Leadership - Alex Kennedy
Best Offensive Lineman - Jacob Petruk
Best Defensive Lineman - Chance Leppanen
Rookie of the Year Grade 8/9 - Tarek Holliday
Rookie of the year Grade 6/7 - Kurt Yaremko
Yaremko Family Award for Most Improved – Nolan Nicholl
Randall Krys Award for Most Heart - Tanner Dion and Ayden Vipond
Claude Vachon Award for Most Contribution, Least Recognition - Ty Leister
