The Chicago Bears organization is teaming up with McHenry Community High School to host a Nike Classic Kickoff event Aug. 30 to celebrate the start of the high school football season as well as the addition of girls flag football.
McHenry’s newly formed girls flag football team will be part of the evening of football, which also includes the typical Friday Night Lights competition of the tackle football teams.
Kickoff for the frosh/soph football team is 4:15 p.m., and the girls flag football game starts at 5:45 p.m. Varsity football kickoff is at 7:15 p.m. The evening includes plenty of fun for fans, too, with a Mini Monsters obstacle course, t-shirt giveaways, and entertainment.
Ticket prices are the same for all football games: $6 for adults, $4 for students and $3 for children in 5th grade and younger. MCHS students get in free with IDs for all home events.
A former Chicago Bears player will also attend and serve as honorary captain. The Bears mascot and drumline are also set to participate. Standout players and fans will also be recognized.
Gustavo Silva, manager of youth and high school football for the Chicago Bears, said this event offered a great opportunity to welcome a new flag football team and also celebrate the start of the traditional tackle football season.
“It’s really a celebration to kick off the season,” Silva said. “Football is truly for everyone.”
Silva said the National Football League, Chicago Bears and Nike have all been instrumental in growing the flag football game. Nike gave a $100,000 grant to support flag football in Illinois, and the Bears gave McHenry $2,500 for their new program.
McHenry Athletic Director Chris Madson said the Aug. 30 football event makes sense since McHenry was set to play Hampshire, which also has a new girls flag football team. “Friday nights are already so established for football,” he said.
Silva, a former player and coach at Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville, said the Nike Classic Kickoff game is part of a series of special football season events hosted by the Chicago Bears to encourage the development of youth and high school football. The addition of girls flag football has only added to the excitement.
Silva has been working to increase girls flag football in Illinois since 2021. In 2024, the Illinois High School Association declared it an IHSA-sanctioned sport, and credited the Chicago Bears with helping to grow the sport along with traditional youth football.
“We all work together for the development of players, and the betterment of the sport,” Silva said.
For McHenry’s girls flag football program, the Aug. 30 event marks the first home game. The team is set to play in their first competitions on Aug. 26 in Rockford.