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Former Bears fullback, Jason McKie, congratulates the Crystal Lake Raiders. |
The Chicago Bears hosted the second annual Youth Football Jamboree at the Walter Payton Center at Halas Hall on Saturday, August 15. The event brought the two largest youth football leagues in the Chicago area together for a preseason warm-up. The Chicagoland Youth Football League and the Bill George Youth Football League have over 12,000 children playing youth football combined.
Twelve teams in total from the Chicagoland area participated in the round-robin style tournament. The teams each played a minimum of three 20-minute scrimmages. The towns represented were Arlington Heights, Carol Stream, Crystal Lake, Elgin, Elmhurst, Lake Zurich, Lemont, Naperville, Palatine, Wauconda, Waukegan and Wheaton. Over 225 youth football players and over 300 parents were in attendance.
In the end, the Crystal Lake Raiders of The Chicagoland Youth Football League won the tournament after a championship game that went into four overtimes. Former Bears fullback, Jason McKie, presented the top four teams with trophies.