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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PELHAM – The Pelham Panthers honored the achievements of three of their star seniors who have helped their teams, school and community succeed as they made their decision to play sports at the next level.

Will Felton, Karma Wynn and Bishop Rellah all signed their national letters of intent to play Division-I sports at a special signing day ceremony on Wednesday, Dec. 13 at the Pelham High School Gymnasium.

Rellah signed to play football at Navy, Felton confirmed his decision to play football for South Alabama and Wynn became the first girls’ basketball player in school history to sign with a Division-I program in Tulane.

With their friends and family in the bleachers, each athlete was honored by their Pelham coaches and signed their letter of intent with their immediate family at the table with them.

Each athlete committed to their college of choice over the summer, but the opportunity to make their decision official with their loved ones in attendance was special for all three of them.

“It’s truly a blessing,” Felton said. “God blessed me to be in this position that I’m in and be able to have all my teammates on my side and all my friends and family that love me to the end, so I’m forever blessed to be in this position.”

The moment was especially meaningful for Wynn, as months after her commitment, she still feels honored to make history for Pelham’s girls basketball program. She was grateful for her coaches, teammates, family and friends for supporting her along the way.

“It feels really good,” Wynn said. “I think we made history, but I don’t want to be the only D-I female athlete to come from Pelham. I’m the first, but I don’t want to be the last. I want to make sure that I keep building up my teammates and helping them reach those goals if they want to play college basketball. Whatever they do, I’m just here to support them.”

Rellah gave an emotional speech honoring his family who has supported him during his journey, especially his mother Brookelyn.

While he has talked about their special bond previously, he told a story about how she watched her son play despite being immunocompromised by chemotherapy. He used that to show the unwavering dedication that his mom, dad and brother have shown him at nearly all of his games.

“There’s just a level of support that you don’t get from those around you like I have,” Rellah said. “I feel beyond blessed to be able to stand here with these three, and they’ll be in my corner for life.”

He was grateful to everyone in Pelham for their support throughout his life, from when they moved to Pelham, when their family needed support and throughout the recruitment process to guide him to the U.S. Naval Academy.

“The city of Pelham brought us in when we moved here my sixth-grade year,” Rellah said. “They welcomed us, supported us and always lent us a hand. There were times where we needed support, we needed help and they gave it to us. I’m thrilled to represent Pelham throughout these next chapters.”