Vanier win still rings true

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/vanierringdn.jpg” caption=”The Marauders were presented with their championship rings last week at the annual football gala dinner. The face of the ring features the team’s logo surrounded by 44 small diamonds. One large diamond in the centre is symbolic of the Vanier Cup being the team’s first. “]Members of the Vanier Cup-winning Marauders football team were presented with their championship rings last week at the team's annual gala dinner and reception.

The players were given rings in recognition of their successful 2011 season, which
culminated in the team's first-ever national championship.

On the ring's face is the Marauders logo surrounded by 44 small diamonds. One large
stone in the centre is in recognition of the championship being the team's first.

One side of the ring has the Vanier Cup game's score and the Marauders and Laval
Rouge et Or logos, while the other has the player's name, number and position as well
as the Vanier Cup logo.

“Play With Pride”, a saying written on a locker room placard touched by each player
before games, is inscribed inside the ring's band.

Assistant coach and former Marauders quarterback and slotback Jon Behie led the group
that helped design the rings.

“We knew as a committee that our Vanier Cup championship rings needed to be
something memorable,” he told the more than 600 people gathered at the David Braley
Athletic Centre to celebrate the team.

Championship rings have been a staple of many North American professional and, more
recently, collegiate sports for more than a century. Rings are typically awarded to
players, coaches and selected staff.

The Marauders also presented the High School Football Coaching Achievement Award to
M.M. Robinson High School's Marcello Campanaro at the gala. Campanaro has coached
for 23 seasons and eight of his former players have gone on to play in the Canadian
Football League.