Chicago Football Classic Kicks off at Soldier Field

Illinois Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and local community leaders announced the 20th annual Chicago Football Classic, which will take place on Sept. 30 at Soldier Field. Photo Credit: Christopher Shuttlesworth
Illinois Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and local community leaders announced the 20th annual Chicago Football Classic, which will take place on Sept. 30 at Soldier Field. Photo Credit: Christopher Shuttlesworth

Chicago Football Classic Kicks off at Soldier Field

By Christopher Shuttlesworth

The 2017 Chicago Football Classic (CFC) will celebrate its 20th annual CFC game on Sept. 30 as the Grambling State University Tigers and the Clark Atlanta University Panthers face off at 3:30 p.m. at Soldier Field.

“This year we are excited to welcome the fans and family from Grambling State University and Clark-Atlanta to Chicago and Cook County,” said Toni Preckwinkle, who is the Illinois Cook County Board President. “The Football Classic and related activities provide us with the perfect opportunity to showcase the values of our historic Black colleges and universities and the pride and accomplishments of student athletes.”

Preckwinkle explained that the Chicago Foot Ball Classic has been displaying an exciting showcase since 1997 which encourages African American high school and college students to strive and achieve their personal best in academics.

“The Chicago Football Classic is about achieving excellence on and off the field,” she said.

“It always shows the positive look of the talent of our young people from the teams on the field to the cheerleaders and band members.”

The Chicago Football Classic’s mission is to inspire African-American students and increase the awareness of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and its opportunities, according to a Chicago Football Classic press release.

“When I was a teacher we always encouraged our young people to go to historic Black colleges because we knew they would find someone there who would nurture and support them because the point is not just to go to college, but to graduate,”

Preckwinkle said.

For the first time in the history of the Chicago Football Classic (CFC), both the Black City Council Caucus and the Hispanic City Council Caucus, under the leadership of Alderman Rod Sawyer (6th Ward) and Alderman Gilbert Villegas (36th Ward)

respectively, have joined together to support the efforts of this important initiative in the City of Chicago.

Two of the city’s top Hispanic high school bands, Kelly High School and the Back of the Yards College Preparatory High School, will compete in the “Battle of the High School Bands”, according to a Chicago Football Classic press release.

Tickets range from $18.00 to $45.00 and can be purchased at Midway Wholesalers, Riteway- Huggins Construction, online @ Ticketmaster and beginning September 1st tickets are available at all Walgreens locations at a discount of $5.00.

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