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University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota To Host Go-Pher Epilepsy Awareness Game
11/10/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
November is national epilepsy awareness month, and the University of Minnesota football team will once again raise awareness for epilepsy this year. The Golden Gophers, in conjunction with the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota, will host the third annual Go-Pher Epilepsy Awareness game this Saturday, Nov. 15, against Ohio State at TCF Bank Stadium.
Every four minutes someone receives a diagnosis of epilepsy, which is broadly defined by the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota as a spectrum of disorders with a range of severities, different seizure types, and varying impacts on people. When someone has two or more unprovoked seizures, that person has epilepsy, according to the foundation.
This is the third year that Minnesota has hosted its Go-pher Epilepsy Awareness game and the 2012 game against Michigan was the first college football game ever to bring awareness to epilepsy, which will affect one in 26 people during their lifetime. The Gophers hosted Nebraska in 2013 for the Go-Pher Epilepsy Awareness Game and won 34-23. This year, Minnesota players will have an Epilepsy Awareness sticker on the back of their helmets.
Minnesota coach Jerry Kill is one of the 2.2 million people in the United States who has epilepsy. His condition has been well-documented, and he has vowed to stand up for people with epilepsy. Kill and the rest of the Minnesota coaches will wear an Epilepsy Foundation pin with a purple ribbon behind it to raise awareness. In addition Big Ten head coaches at Illinois (Tim Boeckman), Indiana (Kevin Wilson), Maryland, (Randy Edsall), Nebraska (Bo Pelini), Northwestern (Pat Fitzgerald), Ohio State (Urban Meyer), Rutgers (Kyle Flood) and Wisconsin (Gary Andersen) will be wearing Epilepsy Foundation pins to help raise awareness at their games on Saturday.
Coach Kill and his wife Rebecca have been supportive of Epilepsy Foundation programs that help youth with seizures. They have partnered with the Epilepsy Foundation to help educate and raise awareness of epilepsy in order to end the stigma that surrounds seizures. The Kills have attended Camp Oz, a summer camp for kids with seizures, in Hudson, Wis., and invited Epilepsy Foundation's Shining Stars (kids with epilepsy) to practices.
This past May, the Kills launched the "Chasing Dreams Coach Kill Epilepsy Fund," which supports Camp Oz and also encourages all schools in Minnesota and North Dakota to become seizure smart. While the Kill's are closing in on their initial goal of raising $500,000, they are setting their sights on reaching $1 million to support programs for kids impacted by epilepsy.
The color purple, which is the international color of epilepsy awareness, will be on display this Saturday when the Gophers meet the Buckeyes in a key Big Ten game. As fans enter TCF Bank Stadium they will receive rally towels with the logos for Go-pher Epilepsy Awareness, and the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota. Members of the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota will be on hand to distribute the towels and answer questions.
The Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota's "Winning Kid" of the year, Katelyn Woehnker, will be introduced on the field. During the next year, the 16-year-old will participate in a variety of events that help raise awareness of epilepsy including traveling to Washington DC in March 2015 to advocate to elected officials and attending Camp Oz in June 2015.
Woehnker will be escorted on the field by Miss Minnesota, Savannah Cole, who has chosen epilepsy awareness as her platform and will be working with the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota throughout the year.
