WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — One youth football program in Lexington County has made state history and took the national title along the way.
The West Columbia Tigers are a part of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) in South Carolina. The team plays and practices at the Brookland Lakeview Empowerment Center.
The program is made up of around 300 children and 20 volunteers. While the kids play football, they also are tutored and mentored in other aspects of life off the gridiron.
2019 turned out to be a history season for the program. According to the AAU, they say this is the first time in the State of South Carolina that all 4 age groups of 6u, 8u, 10u, and 12u have won the state title.
All four teams also went undefeated, beating every team along the way.
Jermaine Odom is the Head Coach for the 10u team.
"It was my pleasure working with the kids. It wasn't always just about coaching them on the field issues like helping them with their homework, talking about different things. Just seeing them grow up," said Odom.
While winning the state title was a big deal for his team, their success didn't stop there. Last week, the team traveled to Orlando and ended up winning the national title by a final score of 38-0.
"It was a huge deal," said Odom. "Couldn't do anything better. It was awesome! This team leaves a legacy of just one team, one heartbeat. Had a bunch of individuals but they all came together."
Dante Wise, Yave Gonzalez, Joseph Marshall, Kai Finkbeiner, and Darius Dixon are all members of the national championship team.
"We played as hard as we could," said Finkbeiner. "I never knew we were going to make it. I was like is it going to be like last year when we lost in the finals but no, kept our heart up."
Many of the players say it was very emotional when they won the national championship. They say they worked hard to be the best they could be and together they made each other's dream come true.
"We had a great game and everybody tried their best even though with one of our best players out of the game, everybody pushed as hard as they could just so they could win the game," said Marshall.
Gonzalez says it's only been a week but he already misses practicing and playing with his teammates.
"We usually have practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Earlier this week on Tuesday, my mom made a joke of me and she asked at what time I'm having practice... I started crying because I remembered that I wouldn't be having practice because the whole season is over."
The teammates say their bond goes further than the football field. They consider each other best friends and continue to hangout, even after the season is over.