Tri-Cities Night mixes
great soccer, life lessons
Quartet of local teams bring back event for 1st time since 2019
By Chris Walker
There are two big DuKane Conference soccer matches that are scheduled as part of the return of Tri-Cities Night on Tuesday at Geneva High School, but that’s just a slice of a huge community event that will leave a lasting impression long after St. Charles East takes on St. Charles North, and Batavia battles Geneva.
“We stress in our program about making a difference, choosing kindness and always helping out others,” Geneva coach Megan Owens said. “We really stress community involvement, and it’s a good way to be actively involved.
"It’s a beneficial thing to help others and a valuable lesson for teenagers these days to see something bigger than themselves in their social bubbles. It’s something big to be a part of, and when they see the outcome and the money raised for the family they’re going to see they made a difference.”
The annual Tri-Cities Night brings the four area soccer teams together to help a local family, in part with the proceeds from the games. The pair of matches are back at Geneva, which hasn’t hosted since 2016 and was scheduled to do so during the canceled 2020 season. The Vikings program is thrilled to be the host again. Geneva also served as the site for the inaugural Tri-Cities event in 2015.
Donations will be collected at entry, a food truck will sell great food and $1,600 in gift cards will be awarded via raffle. A spirit of community, love and positive energy, that one can not truly understand until they've experienced it, permeates the event.
Funds are being raised for the family of Linda Harper, who passed away in September after a long, hard-fought battle with cancer. She was an active member in the local soccer community along with her husband, Richard, and daughters Margaret (age 20) and Amy (17).
Margaret was a senior on the 2020 St. Charles East team that saw its season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Amy is now a junior at St. Charles East. Margaret now plays at the University of Texas-Dallas. Amy played until her sophomore year in high school.
Harper’s daughters played soccer in various clubs, including the Tri-Cities Soccer Association, Campton United and Chicago Soccer Academy. They developed friendships with many girls and their families from the Tri-Cities area and beyond.
“The Harper family has had a lasting impression on our program and are a family we are not going to forget,” St. Charles East coach Vince DiNuzzo said. “Amy is a big part of it, and so is Margaret, having gone through the program. I mean, those girls are lucky to have Rich, he’s a fantastic person who has donated a lot of his time, whether it was volunteering or when taking photographs of the whole team. He’d go to JV games to get pictures for everyone. They are just a selfless family and great people.”
Like many families, the Harpers found a perfect place to raise a family in St. Charles when they moved to the Tri-Cities in 1994. The awful diagnosis of stage 3 melanoma came 20 years later when Linda discovered a spot on her arm. The spot was surgically removed. She didn’t find any others for the next several years until May, 2019, when she noticed a lump in her shoulder and neck area. Further examination reveal the tragic news that the cancer had aggressively spread.
Linda attacked the diagnosis with an aggressive treatment plan that called for her to undergo two years of immunotherapy treatments every four weeks. The spread of the cancer required two brain surgeries and rounds of radiation. She fought bravely.
Linda Harper passed away on Sept. 3, 2021.
“It’s nice to give back to a family that we love and to bring the community together,” DiNuzzo said. “The Tri-Cities group of coaches and players are a special one. The kids grew up together, and the coaches share ideas and collaborate. This is a great opportunity to see all their friends in a competitive environment and interact, to get that picture at halftime and to help each other. (Tri-Cities Night) is a great thing to have back.”
St. Charles East (13-2, 3-0-0), ranked no. 13 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, will take on no. 12 St. Charles North (10-2-0, 3-0-0) in the opener at 5 p.m. No. 20 Geneva (10-4-0, 1-1-0) hosts previously ranked Batavia (8-3-2, 3-1-0) afterward.
“It’s going to be a super competitive night,” Owens said. “All the schools are exceptionally strong this season. It’s going be an exciting, unmatched atmosphere and it’s going to be awesome for our players to play on a bigger stage than usual.”
St. Charles North defeated the Saints 2-1 in the championship game of the Rose Augsburg-Drach Invitational on April 2. The Bulldogs and Vikings haven’t played since last year when they went head-to-head three times. Geneva won both conference games, but Batavia took the postseason matchup.
“This is the first time we’ve played the rivals on this day for the girls side,” DiNuzzo said. “It’s the last game before sectional seeding and looking at the projections, you could assume that all these programs are trying to get that one-, two-, three-, four-spot respectively. This game is going to have a huge impact for that, conference and the Fox (traveling trophy).”
Batavia (0-5-0 on Tri-Cities Night) seeks its first victory at the event. St. Charles North (5-0-0) remains undefeated. St. Charles East (3-1-1) enters the event on an eight-game win. Geneva (1-3-1) will look for its first win on Tri-Cities Night since defeating the Saints 3-1 in 2017.
For those who are unable to attend on Tuesday but still wish to help show their support for the Harper family, checks can be made out to Geneva High School with TCN Donation written in the memo line. The mailing address is Geneva High School, c/o TCN Donation, 416 McKinley Ave., Geneva, IL 60134.
great soccer, life lessons
Quartet of local teams bring back event for 1st time since 2019
By Chris Walker
There are two big DuKane Conference soccer matches that are scheduled as part of the return of Tri-Cities Night on Tuesday at Geneva High School, but that’s just a slice of a huge community event that will leave a lasting impression long after St. Charles East takes on St. Charles North, and Batavia battles Geneva.
“We stress in our program about making a difference, choosing kindness and always helping out others,” Geneva coach Megan Owens said. “We really stress community involvement, and it’s a good way to be actively involved.
"It’s a beneficial thing to help others and a valuable lesson for teenagers these days to see something bigger than themselves in their social bubbles. It’s something big to be a part of, and when they see the outcome and the money raised for the family they’re going to see they made a difference.”
The annual Tri-Cities Night brings the four area soccer teams together to help a local family, in part with the proceeds from the games. The pair of matches are back at Geneva, which hasn’t hosted since 2016 and was scheduled to do so during the canceled 2020 season. The Vikings program is thrilled to be the host again. Geneva also served as the site for the inaugural Tri-Cities event in 2015.
Donations will be collected at entry, a food truck will sell great food and $1,600 in gift cards will be awarded via raffle. A spirit of community, love and positive energy, that one can not truly understand until they've experienced it, permeates the event.
Funds are being raised for the family of Linda Harper, who passed away in September after a long, hard-fought battle with cancer. She was an active member in the local soccer community along with her husband, Richard, and daughters Margaret (age 20) and Amy (17).
Margaret was a senior on the 2020 St. Charles East team that saw its season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Amy is now a junior at St. Charles East. Margaret now plays at the University of Texas-Dallas. Amy played until her sophomore year in high school.
Harper’s daughters played soccer in various clubs, including the Tri-Cities Soccer Association, Campton United and Chicago Soccer Academy. They developed friendships with many girls and their families from the Tri-Cities area and beyond.
“The Harper family has had a lasting impression on our program and are a family we are not going to forget,” St. Charles East coach Vince DiNuzzo said. “Amy is a big part of it, and so is Margaret, having gone through the program. I mean, those girls are lucky to have Rich, he’s a fantastic person who has donated a lot of his time, whether it was volunteering or when taking photographs of the whole team. He’d go to JV games to get pictures for everyone. They are just a selfless family and great people.”
Like many families, the Harpers found a perfect place to raise a family in St. Charles when they moved to the Tri-Cities in 1994. The awful diagnosis of stage 3 melanoma came 20 years later when Linda discovered a spot on her arm. The spot was surgically removed. She didn’t find any others for the next several years until May, 2019, when she noticed a lump in her shoulder and neck area. Further examination reveal the tragic news that the cancer had aggressively spread.
Linda attacked the diagnosis with an aggressive treatment plan that called for her to undergo two years of immunotherapy treatments every four weeks. The spread of the cancer required two brain surgeries and rounds of radiation. She fought bravely.
Linda Harper passed away on Sept. 3, 2021.
“It’s nice to give back to a family that we love and to bring the community together,” DiNuzzo said. “The Tri-Cities group of coaches and players are a special one. The kids grew up together, and the coaches share ideas and collaborate. This is a great opportunity to see all their friends in a competitive environment and interact, to get that picture at halftime and to help each other. (Tri-Cities Night) is a great thing to have back.”
St. Charles East (13-2, 3-0-0), ranked no. 13 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, will take on no. 12 St. Charles North (10-2-0, 3-0-0) in the opener at 5 p.m. No. 20 Geneva (10-4-0, 1-1-0) hosts previously ranked Batavia (8-3-2, 3-1-0) afterward.
“It’s going to be a super competitive night,” Owens said. “All the schools are exceptionally strong this season. It’s going be an exciting, unmatched atmosphere and it’s going to be awesome for our players to play on a bigger stage than usual.”
St. Charles North defeated the Saints 2-1 in the championship game of the Rose Augsburg-Drach Invitational on April 2. The Bulldogs and Vikings haven’t played since last year when they went head-to-head three times. Geneva won both conference games, but Batavia took the postseason matchup.
“This is the first time we’ve played the rivals on this day for the girls side,” DiNuzzo said. “It’s the last game before sectional seeding and looking at the projections, you could assume that all these programs are trying to get that one-, two-, three-, four-spot respectively. This game is going to have a huge impact for that, conference and the Fox (traveling trophy).”
Batavia (0-5-0 on Tri-Cities Night) seeks its first victory at the event. St. Charles North (5-0-0) remains undefeated. St. Charles East (3-1-1) enters the event on an eight-game win. Geneva (1-3-1) will look for its first win on Tri-Cities Night since defeating the Saints 3-1 in 2017.
For those who are unable to attend on Tuesday but still wish to help show their support for the Harper family, checks can be made out to Geneva High School with TCN Donation written in the memo line. The mailing address is Geneva High School, c/o TCN Donation, 416 McKinley Ave., Geneva, IL 60134.