OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Tonight it was a battle, brunettes vs. blondes.
The game was ladies only, for a good reason.
"As women we are more predominant in having Alzheimer's, dementia or being a caregiver. So that's why we're playing flag football and representing the challenge that they have every day," says Carly Snider, who’s played in the event all five years of its existence.
All the money the fundraiser brings in, goes straight to the Alzheimer's Association. But as you can tell, it's a bit different than your average fundraiser.
"It's not just your traditional walk or going to a great big fundraiser. You get a crowd, you get to meet all kinds of ladies, and the camaraderie and the rivalry..and it's really competitive,” says Snider.
The battle on the gridiron definitely gets pretty intense at times.
"There's some arms throwing, you're supposed to tackle but every once in a while that happens. There's some, a little bit of banter back and forth,” says Snider.
"I thought it would be this fun flag football but these girls are in it to win,” says Amy Walton, who played last year.
The ladies playing couldn't just join for free. Instead, they had to raise at least $500 towards the cause, with some raising a lot more than that.
"We had people that raised over $7,000 each,” says Walton.
The game meant even more to some of the players, who have personal experience of family dealing with the deadly disease.
"I took care of my grandma, who had Alzheimer's, she was, it was horrible watching her progress through that, so anything I can do to help her get rid of that disease I will definitely do my best to do,” says Jennifer Bennett, who played for her first year.
And the game was put on so eventually there's an end to the disease.
"Finding our first survivor is our goal,” says Walton.
