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Windsor High School’s varsity football team was recently honored in Richmonod at the Virginia State Capitol through a draping ceremony in which players received custom-fitted Legacy Blazers that were embroidered with their school’s logo.

WHS Instructional Assistant LaTisha Kea noted that Cut in His Image Ministries, a Suffolk-based nonprofit organization, and Virginia Del. Nadarius Clark invited the Dukes, as well as teams from a couple other schools, to Richmond on Thursday, Feb. 13, to be presented with the blazers as part of an initiative called Operation Legacy 2025. The student-athletes, coaches and faculty were transported to the state capital via chartered buses.

A Feb. 13 media advisory from Clark noted that he was holding a Blazer Bestowal Academic Jacket Ceremony that morning “to recognize and celebrate the academic achievements of local area high school students. During the ceremony, students will be presented with academic blazers, symbolizing their dedication, excellence and affiliation with the academic community.”

Benjamin DuBois, the Windsor varsity football head coach, said 39 Dukes were fitted for the blazers, because tailors actually came out and did custom fits. He estimated that about 30 of his players were able to go to Richmond for the ceremony on Feb. 13, and they brought home the jackets for the others who were not able to attend.

DuBois credited Pastor Karl Wilkins with setting up the whole event. Wilkins is site pastor of The Mount at Suffolk, and he is also co-founder of Cut in His Image Ministries.

DuBois shared what it meant to see his players being recognized in the draping ceremony on the floor of the Old Hall of the House of Delegates.

“I’m always trying to expose them to new things, and so to have them do something like this and to be in a place like that, a historical place like that with the people that were there — because we got a chance to speak to Nadarius Clark and also the speaker of the house and some other people spoke as well — it was an honor for me,” he said. 

 “And maybe to the kids, they don’t feel the full effects of it yet, but when they look back on time, that’s my thing that kind of coincided with what they were saying — this is a legacy,” he added. “So just being able to do that made me proud as ever, because this is something that they’ll be able to tell their children about every time they see those jackets.”

He said the Dukes were given a tour of the Virginia State Capitol, and he and his coaching staff talked to them to help underscore the importance of the occasion.

“The coaching staff, we kind of talked to them about the moment, just once in a lifetime, again coinciding with the word ‘legacy’ that they kept stating, just wanting to make sure that they felt that,” he said. “And we’ll wear the jackets on game days.”

DuBois said that during the ceremony, among those to speak were Wilkins, Clark and Speaker of the House Don Scott.

The coach said a church minister recited a poem for the student-athletes, and then individuals stood behind each of them to put the Legacy Blazers on them.

“They called it draping them with the jackets,” DuBois said.