The City of Boston celebrated its recent Pop Warner football and cheerleading champions with a parade on Talbot Avenue in Dorchester on Saturday.
The Dorchester Eagles football team and Lady Raiders cheerleading team each won their division at the national Pop Warner Championship in Florida this month.
The parade ran from TechBoston Academy to Berkshire Partners Blue Hill Boys & Girls Club.
Mayor Michelle Wu attended and NBC10 Boston's Kwani Lunis was the emcee.
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The Dorchester Eagles U14 Pop Warner football team brought the national championship to Boston earlier this month and made history in the process.
This team of eighth graders didn't just win in Florida, they dominated — finishing the championship game 20-0.
"This is special to a lot of us because we tried so many years over and over and over — came up short. But we never gave up," said Dorchester Elite Eagles Pop Warner president and coach Terry "Beefy" Cousins.
Cousins and coach Tony Hurston have mentored Dorchester's Pop Warner players on and off the field for nearly three decades each.
They said that these victories are proof that years of hard work can pay off, adding that the boys' poise and desire to win as a team this year were key to bringing home the trophy.
"It shows that if we keep doing positive stuff, sticking to the regimen, it will pay off in the end," Hurston said. "Love my boys, 617 stand up."
Cheer coach Renee Murray said they had eight girls go down but they persevered.
"We worked hard, we had to change routines several times, we've been to nationals several times but this is the first time we actually won so it feels really good," cheer coach Renee Murray said.
Saturday's parade wrapped up with a special ceremony at the Berkshire Partners Blue Hill Boys & Girls Club where the teams were honored by city leaders.
