Oak Park High grads host annual Turkey Bowl in tribute to lost friend




REMEMBER—Oak Park High alumni Sean Sammis, Class of 2005, and Andrew Henggeler, Nolan McNair and Peter Neff, all of Class of 2004, will join other grads for a flag football game on Thanksgiving Day in honor of Shawn Rishko, a classmate who committed suicide in 2006.

REMEMBER—Oak Park High alumni Sean Sammis, Class of 2005, and Andrew Henggeler, Nolan McNair and Peter Neff, all of Class of 2004, will join other grads for a flag football game on Thanksgiving Day in honor of Shawn Rishko, a classmate who committed suicide in 2006.

In 2002 Oak Park High School graduates Matt Koller and Monte McNair kicked off a Thanksgiving Day tradition with a Turkey Bowl flag football game. The pre-meal game became an annual community event with a focus on giving.

Koller said the first game was just a way for old friends to reconnect. The inaugural Turkey Bowl featured two teams made up of Oak Park grads competing at Mae Boyar Park. Each year new teams were added, Koller said.

This year’s activity will field 14 teams of Oak Park High graduates, from the Class of 2001 to the Class of 2010. Koller said almost all the players are former members of the school’s football team.

The 2006 Turkey Bowl became a way to remember Oak Park High School graduate Shawn Rishko, who committed suicide that year at the age of 22 after a long battle with bipolar disorder.

The TRUE-phy Award, a perpetual trophy that was created that year to honor Rishko, goes home with the winning team each year. The game has been dedicated to Rishko since 2006.

“(The TRUE-phy award) is in memory of our friend Shawn because he would always say ‘true,’” Koller said. “We seized the opportunity to not only dedicate the game and trophy to him but also name the trophy in memory of him.”

Turkey Bowl organizers decided to honor their friend in a bigger way this year. Koller and McNair will unveil a new, improved Shawn Rishko TRUE-phy.

The award was originally handmade by Koller and McNair, but this year the names of all the past Turkey Bowl winners will be engraved on a professionally crafted trophy.

Koller said that Rishko had played on a Turkey Bowl team from 2002 to 2005 and had been a member of the winning team for two of those years.

“We will continue to add the names of the winning teams for each of the following years,” Koller said. “It is coveted by all the players and gives the winning team bragging rights for the entire year.”

Another new element to this year’s game is fundraising in honor of Rishko. Team members have been asked to donate money for the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance.

“We are not charging the teams to play,” Koller said. “We have recommended donations from each team so that we can donate to a charity that will further research for the illness that plagued Shawn—bipolar disorder. Each and every team has gladly made the donation, although it is not required to participate.”

Additional donations will be collected from spectators during the game, he said.

The game has moved to Oak Park High School’s football field this year. It will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, and the round robin competition will end in the final championship game around noon.

“Everyone is welcome to come watch and share the holiday spirit,” Koller said.

“The Oak Park Turkey Bowl is pretty much like a high school reunion every year,” Koller said. “It has grown so large over the past eight years that not only do we have 14 teams of 10 players each, but friends and family come out to watch, socialize and catch up with people in the community. We have such a tight-knit community, and this game is proof of that.”

Jeff Yellin, Koller’s stepfather, said, “There’s the Super Bowl, the Rose Bowl and the Oak Park fifth annual Shawn Rishko Turkey Bowl on Thanksgiving Day.”

Spectators are advised to bring their own seating to the event.

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