🏆 Cue *We Are The Champions*

The Cardinal Hayes High School's football team was never really set up for success. 

The school itself is located in the poorest congressional district in the nation. And on top of the lack of funding and support, the team was forced to either practice on an outdoor home field that was smaller than regulation size, or an unsafe game field in a public city park. Their only access to gym equipment was an outdoor weight room covered in rust.

• The Bronx, New York-located school was previously called one of the "worst teams" in their league, with the odds of them taking home the New York State Catholic High School State Championship in December at basically zero. 
• BUT – thanks to a dedicated coach and determined group of inner-city students, they proved you really never should underestimate the underdog 👀. 

Hard work = success... Despite all these challenges, Cardinal Hayes ended up taking home the state title in December. And, since their win, the team has been like busy bees – getting their flowers. The school has been gifted $30,000 of new equipment from Riddell, new cleats for every player from Nike, $50,000 from Bank of America, and multiple college scholarships to senior members of the team. 

• "One thing we're guaranteed is we're gonna get knocked down," said Cardinal Hayes President Michael Carey. "The question is how we respond."

💪📈 Bottom line: To quote ABC News: "The players have known all along that they are not their circumstances. And now everyone else does too."