Fruitport High’s “Trojan Strong” Game Helps Those Impacted By Cancer

FruitportPhoto from Fruitport Facebook Page
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Addix’s Great American Giveback champion Fruitport High School in Michigan recently played its “cause game.” Fruitport, which won the Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids “cause game” category, played its Trojan Strong game on September 14th.

fruitport

Photo from Fruitport’s Facebook page.

Through the Great American Giveback social media competition, Fruitport won fifty “cause game” jerseys from Addix for its game against Union High School. Each jersey had the name of a loved, who has been affected by cancer, on the back. The Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids logo was also placed on each jersey.

Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids provides free emotional healthcare to children, adults, families, and friends on any kind of cancer journey or those grieving the death of someone in their life due to any cause. Gilda’s Club is 100% supported through charitable gifts.

All of the proceeds from Fruitport’s jersey sales are going back to Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids, and the t-shirts/spirit wear sales are going to families in the community who have loved ones dealing with cancer.

“I cannot express how meaningful Friday night was for our community. Hope is the only word that can come close to encapsulating the event. After our players presented the jerseys, lanterns were lit off. As they floated up, it was very powerful imagery, but the beauty was in everyone eyes being drawn to the night sky,” said Fruitport head coach Nate Smith.

To make the night perfect, Fruitport beat Union 41-0.

Coach Smith added, “One of the more powerful behind the scenes moments for me, was writing down the quotes each player prepared as they presented the jerseys to those they played for. They each came in my office and shared what they wanted to have read. To have 15-18 year old high school guys, fully engage in the process and that moment, and for the them to wrestle with saying something meaningful, was unbelievably humbling.

I hope you all know the role Addix played in our event was critical. The early feeling around here was that we could not ‘pull one off.’ Having Addix walk us through the process made everyone fell confident we could take a shot at it. And then to have our community and school rally to win jerseys…AMAZING.”

Next year, Fruitport hopes to get more teams and clubs involved and expand the “Trojan Strong” Cause.

Related: Photos on Fruitport’s Facebook Page

Editor’s Note: A portion of this story appears on the Addix blog. For More information on Addix, one of the leading providers of custom sports apparel with 100 percent of its products manufactured in the United States, and its giveback games, go to AddixGear.com.

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About the Author

Jeff Fisher
Jeff is an award-winning journalist and expert in the field of high school sports, underscored with his appearance on CNBC in 2010 to talk about the big business of high school football in America.Jeff turned to his passion for high school football into an entrepreneurial venture called High School Football America, a digital media company focused on producing original high school sports content for radio, television and the internet.Jeff is co-founder and editor-in-chief of High School Football America, a partner with NFL Play Football.