The 9- and 10-year-olds standing in front of the dais in the St. Charles City Council Chambers on Monday night stood straight and smiled nervously, occasionally fidgeting as the man in the suit, sometimes turning toward them, read an important-looking paper.

The guy in the suit was Mayor Donald DeWitte. The document — important-looking at least in part because it was framed, if not because the mayor himself was holding it — was a proclamation. The occasion? A short celebration of the team’s fete in winning the national championship for their class during the title game on Dec. 7, 2012. The proclamation, of course, honored both the boys and their coaches.

DeWitte congratulated the group of youngsters — who in turn got a chance to introduce themselves to the City Council and the audience — as he presented the proclamation honoring their achievement to coach Jack Hull.

That brought a prolonged round of applause from the audience.

Hull, who introduced his fellow coaches, then honored Mayor DeWitte with a football from the team, reading, “Tri-City Chargers 2012 United Football League National Champs, Dec. 7, 2012,” and bearing all the boys’ names.

“We had a great season, we had a great regular season,” Hull told the crowd. “The way these boys gelled the way that they did, really nothing they did surprised us by the end of the year.”

Related:

Dec. 14, 2012: Tri City Chargers Are National Football Champs

Let Patch save you time. Have local stories delivered directly to your inbox with our free newsletter. Fast signup here.

Then like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @StCharlsILPatch.