Dan KINVIG
Black Press
Winning the Red River Cup with Team B.C. earlier this month marked a major highlight in Rayl Paling's young football career.
Paling, a 15-year-old centre who is going into Grade 10 at Mission Secondary, cracked the roster for the under-16 provincial squad which traveled to Winnipeg for the Red River Cup. The tournament brought together five regional teams from Western Canada – B.C., Northern Saskatchewan, Southern Saskatchewan, Winnipeg East and Winnipeg West.
The B.C. squad produced middling results in the round robin, going 2-2 and finishing tied with two other teams for second place. They advanced to the title game vs. undefeated Winnipeg West by virtue of their points for/points against differential.
B.C. put it all together in the final, knocking off Winnipeg West 34-21.
"They beat us earlier in the tournament in a close game, so we wanted to come back at them in the final," Paling said. "We played really hard."
The tourney was played at Investors Group Field, home of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and Paling and his teammates got to meet several players from the CFL club.
"It was just a great experience," he said. "I made a lot of friends from different high schools and communities."