The Regina Thunder will soon get their hands on the Prairie Football Conference (PFC) championship trophy after it was forgotten by the Saskatoon Hilltops at Sunday’s title game.
The championship trophy is currently in the hands of the president of the Regina Thunder Football Club, Murad Al-Katib, as of Tuesday afternoon. He said he plans to take the prize to Regina from his Saskatoon office Wednesday.
His plan comes after the trophy was forgotten by the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) team’s rival, the Saskatoon Hilltops, which prompted an apology from the defending champs on social media. The Hilltops forgot to bring the prairie conference prize to Sunday’s championship game where Regina defeated Saskatoon. The final score was 44-19.
At the end of the game, the Thunder could not hoist the trophy in front of their home crowd.
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“Obviously, when you have the high of winning a championship, there’s a lot of work that goes into it. So, there was just a little bit of confusion at first, but then a little bit of disappointment,” Al-Katib told Global News in an interview Tuesday.
“We were recognized as the winners, and we found out after that the trophy had been missed.”
Following the mishap, the Hilltops issued an apology on social media Monday.
“As the defending champions, it was our responsibility to ensure the trophy was there to be presented to this year’s winner,” the Saskatoon Hilltops wrote.
“We know firsthand how much hard work, dedication, and sacrifice goes into winning a championship. The Regina Thunder earned the right to celebrate that special moment with the trophy in their hands.”
The apology was addressed to the Regina Thunder organization and its players, coaches and fans. According to the president of the Thunder, the Hilltops are forgiven.
“The Saskatoon Hilltops recognize their mistake, and they’ve issued a public apology, not at our request,” he said, adding that “it’s nice when someone apologizes when you don’t ask for an apology. There was an acknowledgement that there was an oversight and we arranged to have it delivered.”
“When I got the apology, I was grateful. And we’ve already moved on because we got a national semifinal championship to win.”
The Thunder are set to play the Sault Ste. Marie Cougars Saturday evening. If they win, the Regina squad will travel to B.C. for the national championship game next month.
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