High school coaches spend countless hours over the course of a season trying to prepare their teams for success. If they’re lucky, they’ll start their offseason designing and ordering championship rings for their players.
Here in Long Beach, a number of coaches got the chance to discuss jewelry in 2021, as nine different programs won CIF titles. As great as it is to win, that also brings an additional and unexpected expense–paying for those shiny gold rings.
That’s where the Long Beach Century Club has stepped in, providing a $500 donation to the city’s CIF championship-winning programs to help them cover the cost of their rings.
“I think with what everybody’s been through over the past year-plus, it’s nice to do something to uphold our mission statement, which is to support athletics in Long Beach,” said Century Club president Mike Fillipow. “In just a six-month window we’ve had nine CIF championships, which is pretty amazing. We’re thrilled to help those teams get extra recognition and help them cover some of those added expenses.”
During summer, the Century Club made donations to the six programs that won CIF titles during the abbreviated spring season. The half-dozen championship teams included two programs each from Millikan (boys’ tennis, baseball), Poly (girls’ basketball, girls’ track & field) and Wilson (boys’ volleyball, boys’ track & field.)
This past fall, three more Poly teams claimed CIF titles: girls’ tennis, boys’ water polo, and football. All three programs have received $500 donations, which can go towards purchasing rings for players, or to help offset other costs accrued during postseason play.
