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Hoffman Estates Redhawks pursue “Holy Grail” of Pop Warner three-peat

The Hoffman Estates Redhawks football team is hoping to make history.

The Pee Wee football team is chasing a third straight Pop Warner title, something never before accomplished. The squad is now three wins away from the feat.

“We have had a lot of teams in Pop Warner that won back to back. But no one has won three in a row,” coach Rick Cyr said.

But before it reaches its long-term goal, the team first must achieve the short-term objective of collecting the money it needs to fund the trip to Orlando, where it will play for the title at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Disney World.

Fresh off the win Friday that punched their ticket to Florida, players and coaches gathered on a chilly Sunday afternoon by the Walgreens at the corner of Higgins and Roselle roads, hoisting signs and appealing to passing drivers for donations.

The team of junior high-aged players from towns including Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg, Elgin and Bartlett also has a GoFundMe account at www.gofundme.com/HoffmanRedhawksJuniorVarsity2016. The fundraising goal is about $1,000 per child, with 24 players on the team.

The team went undefeated and won the state championship before beating a squad from Lee's Summit, Missouri, 34-0 on Friday to claim the Mid-America regional. That earned the Redhawks the right to be among the teams competing in Orlando to reach the Pop Warner Division II Pee Wee National Championship game.

They will arrive on Dec. 2 and play in games on Dec. 3 and Dec. 6. The championship game is Dec. 9.

Cyr said the team's success is a product of its work ethic.

“They take their lunch pail to work every day,” he said.

Cyr said his players have been conditioning to face the warmer weather in Florida. And they expect their opponents to be extra prepared, now that the team is not a secret anymore.

“I'm sure people are sharing their wisdom on how to beat us. There is plenty of film out there on us now that we have been back and forth a couple times,” he said.

The team has several members from the previous two championship teams, including running back/cornerback Mitchell Lingle of Hoffman Estates.

“It's definitely amazing,” the 13-year-old said Sunday. “No one has ever done it before. It's just a great feeling to be down there, even just to have fun.”

“I think it's so amazing for these boys,” Mitchell's mother, Jennifer Lingle, added.

“It has been their Holy Grail for our league.”

Lingle emphasized that the Pop Warner league is about more than football.

“We have our Little Scholars program, too. So not only does it boost the sportsmanship and the team spirit, but they also give some really great rewards for getting some really great grades,” she said.

Sekou Smith, the father of players Bryan and Ryan Smith of Elgin, was among the parents “shaking the bucket” at the corner on Sunday.

“As a parent, I hope that these experiences contribute to their overall good as they get older in life and become better people,” he said. “I can't imagine competing and succeeding at this level and it not having dividends as they go through college and adulthood.”

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  Hoffman Estates Redhawks dad Sekou Smith and players, from left, Jack Hominac, Ian Ridge and Kale Iwanski were out seeking donations in Hoffman Estates on Sunday to help fund their trip next week to Orlando. Steve Zalusky/szalusky@dailyherald.com
  Hoffman Estates Redhawks players, from left, Bryan Smith, Jack Hominac, Ryan Smith, Ian Ridge, Bryce Smith, Mitchell Lingle and Kale Iwanski hail passing drivers at the corner of Higgins and Roselle roads on Sunday as they tried to raise money for their trip next week to Orlando for the Pop Warner national championship. Steve Zalusky/szalusky@dailyherald.com
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