28 Chicagoland football teams pitch in to help

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The winter for high school football players usually consists of various workouts and camps. But for one special night, 28 different teams will compete in a very different game for a worthy cause.

Franklin Middle School in Wheaton will host its fourth annual Dodgeball Madness Tournament to raise money for the Ross K. MacNeill Foundation, which aims to end pediatric brain cancer. The tournament will take place at the school from March 9-12, with separate tournaments for students, parents and several local fire and police departments. Last year, the event raised over $23,000 through registration fees, donations, sponsorships and auctioned items.

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A special highlight of this year’s tournament will be on March 9, when more than 175 local high school football players will kick-off the tournament. Student athletes from 28 area high school football teams, including Wheaton Warrenville South, Wheaton North, Glenbard West, Naperville North, Naperville Central, Lake Park, Glenbard South, Downers Grove North, St. Francis, West Chicago, Lyons Township, Elk Grove Village, Lincoln Way Central, St. Charles North and Neuqua Valley, will compete in this fun-filled event. It will begin with a brief ceremony slated to begin at 6:30 p.m.  

ESPN’s Matt Bowen, former Chicago Bear Anthony Adams and other current and former NFL players will be in attendance. Special recognition will be paid to Andrew Garwood, a 2011 Glenbard West graduate and former Hitter football player, who passed away of brain cancer last month. Andrew was very involved at Penn State University in THON, an annual event at PSU that raises millions of dollars to fight childhood cancer. Mrs. Kim MacNeill, co-founder of the Ross K. MacNeill Foundation, will speak as well.

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