How does a die-hard Razorback fan get a football fix between February and September?
He could sponsor a flag football player in the Blondes vs. Brunettes match to benefit the Alzheimer's Association Arkansas Chapter.
Blondes vs. Brunettes
What: A flag football game among 34 professional women to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Association Arkansas Chapter.
When: 1 p.m. Saturday
Where: Donald W. Reynolds Boys and Girls Club, Fayetteville, with a celebration to follow at JJ’s Grill on Wedington Drive
Cost: $10 per person, $15 for game and afterparty
Information: alz.org or (479) 273-5559
A total of 34 women -- 20 brunettes and 14 blondes -- will go head-to-head in a public match Saturday at the Donald W. Reynolds Boys and Girls Club in Fayetteville. With direction by four coaches, mediation by three referees, a halftime performance by the Williams Dance Center and encouragement from cheerleaders, the players say the event will be just like any other football game.
It even comes with a similar competitive edge.
"While watching practices, I noticed they were doing a little trash talking back and forth to each other," says Brittney Gulley, special events coordinator for the Alzheimer's Association Arkansas Chapter. And that doesn't stop when they leave the field. "Right now, the brunettes are leading in the fundraising ... there's a $3,000 difference right now."
Gulley said she sometimes gets emails and phone calls from the players who want her to post updated figures on the funds raised, reflecting pride in their team.
When Gulley and Courtney Ogden began planning the event last October, they set a tentative fundraising goal of $250 for each player and so far, the league has already exceeded that expectation with nearly $10,000 and counting.
"They set their goals, and they've just made it," Ogden says. "Brunette team captain Toni Bahn has raised $1,964."
"A good amount of the players are exceeding that goal of $250 by a long shot," Gulley says, pointing out a few who reached levels $500, $600 and upward.
For a first-time event, the coordinators are pleased with the engagement so far and predict a healthy turnout for the game.
In choosing team captains and players, Ogden and Gulley expected to turn to fitness centers in the area, thinking they could find willing teammates there. Instead, they chose a couple of team captains, made a call for players and nearly had to close the gates.
"We thought that we'd go to gyms and post flyers, and we didn't even have to do that," Gulley says. "We had a list [of women] we wanted to approach, and then it spread like wildfire. With [just] a few posts on Facebook, we had ladies who reached out saying, 'This sounds fun, tell me more,' 'How can I get involved?' or 'I have a friend who would love to do this.'"
Gulley had been on the lookout for a more unusual fundraising event and thought that flag football would fit Northwest Arkansas like a glove.
"It was perfect for our community," she says. "Everybody loves the Razorbacks, and we're sports oriented ... We have a lot of amazing, competitive, professional, philanthropic ladies in Northwest Arkansas. What a great way to get them involved."
When Ogden called the Alzheimer's Association to make a donation in honor of her grandmother, who died last fall, Gulley thought she'd make an ideal partner to pull the event together.
She had the passion for the cause and, as vice president for Garrison Financial family office, she had the chops for organizing an event of this size.
"It's very close to my heart because [both] my grandmothers have had Alzheimer's, and there's no cure right now," Ogden says. "There's the fear that my mom will get it, or that I will get it and my children will have to take care of me, and it's just a horrible disease, a long-term one."
Though one of Ogden's grandmothers had the disease for only a short time before she died, the other has lived with it for more than 15 years. Watching a loved one lose touch with the world is heartbreaking, she says.
"The hardest part is that you have to watch them go through this," Ogden says. "They're forgetting your name, and then they can't do normal functions, they're just in a bed, and they don't know anything."
The Alzheimer's Association funds are divided, with 70 percent staying in the Northwest Arkansas region for support groups for caregivers and educational sessions for the public. The other 30 percent is set aside for use by the national office, which funds medical research to develop treatments and search for a cure.
Although there are improved medications that help slow the progression of the disease, a cure has yet to be found.
"Even with medications, there are side effects," Gulley says. "You think you're taking care of one thing, and it brings on something else."
Having a flag football game with teams of women is appropriate because two-thirds of Alzheimer's patients are female -- some say because women's lifespan is typically longer -- and the majority of caregivers are also women.
"We really want to continue to bring that awareness and let women be involved ... in ultimately, hopefully, finding a cure," Gulley says. "So we can end it, and it will just be something we know about from history."
April Robertson can be reached by email at arobertson@nwadg.com.
NAN Profiles on 03/29/2015