Extra Life Charity Challenge: College Football 26
On Saturday, October 4th, a fundraising eSports tournament in support of University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital officially kicked off! The second annual Extra Life Charity Challenge: College Football 25 event, presented by South Slope and Rival Warz and hosted at historic Kinnick Stadium, was packed full of football action even though the Hawkeyes were on their bye week. That’s because 64 tournament participants and more than 120+ spectators came together to support gamers as they competed in a double-elimination charity tournament of the new EA Sports College Football 26 game.
For an entry fee of $25, participants could sign up to play in the tournament or register as a spectator to watch the tournament or play the new college Football Game in the Free-Play area. Once registered, everyone got a link to their own customizable online fundraising page, where they would earn field access for raising $200 and a locker room tour when they hit $500. We want to give a special shout out to our top three individual fundraisers who collectively raised $3,100! Congratulations to our top three overall fundraisers:
- Andrew Raymer (RayCheesy): $1,700
- Troy Jibben: $765
- Craig Manuel: $721
Joining us for the day and competing in the tournament was two-time cancer survivor, Cooper Estenson. To kickoff the event, Cooper’s mom shared his story of resilience and overcoming obstacles in the face of enormous challenges. His story inspired all of us that no matter how tough things can be, you can overcome them with enough fight and support. When asked during an on-air interview what he thought of all of this, referencing the tournament, he said “it helps a lot, I don’t think people know that, but it helps a lot.” A great reminder for all of us as to why we all came out to Kinnick that day – to play games and make a positive difference for these kids.
As the tournament field whittled down to our two finalists, Jacob Knox and Herve Cantrell, the Championship Game was officially set. Played on the main stage on an 98” TV and livestreamed onto the Kinnick Jumbotron, the stage was set for the second annual Extra Life Charity Challenge Championship. Even though the Hawkeyes weren’t playing, we still participated in the best tradition in college football, the Hawkeye Wave, after the first quarter. In the end, Herve Cantrell came out on top, winning the championship as Georgia over his opponent Alabama, 35-0.
In the end, $60,000 was raised for University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital through this event! Special shoutout again to South Slope and Rival Warz for supporting us on this endeavor for the second-straight year. We also want to say a huge thank you to Best Buy, who supplied the TVs, PlayStation consoles, game copies, and their Geek Squad to help with setup, tech support, and much more. Without their support and partnership this would not have been possible!
