Team makes nationals, but now it needs money

Hillari Lube hasn't slept much in the past few days.

It's a change from the joy she experienced when she learned the Bensenville-Wood Dale Bandits youth football team had qualified for nationals.

For her son and many of the other boys on the team, making the cut is like playing in the Super Bowl.

But then the other shoe dropped.

The trip to Orlando for next month's American Youth Football Association nationals costs money.

Not all the parents can afford to spend at least $700 per player on such short notice.

That's why Lube hasn't been sleeping.

"If one boy bails on us, the whole team can't go," Lube said. "They have to go as a team."

So Lube and the rest of the women who call themselves Bandit moms will hit the streets today and continue until Dec. 1 in an effort to raise a minimum of $11,000 for the team.

"There's a couple of hundred businesses in Bensenville and Wood Dale," Lube said. "And I'm going to knock on every door."

The money will pay for travel expenses and lodging for each child.

The team, consisting of 16 boys between 12 to 13 years old, is scheduled to play in the national competition, which starts Dec. 1 and runs through Dec. 8.

"We have, so far, about $1,500 -- give or take," Lube said. "And we have two weeks."

Today, Bandit moms and other volunteers will hit local intersections, supermarkets and knock on doors in the Bensenville and Wood Dale area.

They will be seen at the intersections at York Road and Grand Avenue, and York and Irving Park roads.

Some plan to position themselves outside the Jewel food store along Irving Park and Edmar Foods along Main Street in Bensenville.

"We're going to be out there begging," Lube said.

Donations to the team can be made online at www.eteamz.com/BWFCA.

Checks also can be mailed to "Bandits Football" at P.O. Box 437, Wood Dale, IL 60191.