How to tell the purists among Glen Ellyn high school football fans

Officially, Glenbard West athletic teams are called Hilltoppers, named as such for the hill the school was built upon.

But the football team also is known for taking another title: Hitters.

It comes from the name of a club established in the 1960s by longtime Coach Bill Duchon in honor of former Glenbard star player Bruce Capel, who later played on the 1964 Illinois Rose Bowl team.

Capel, who became a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps, died in Vietnam in 1966 at the age of 23.

Duchon and his coaches decided to honor Capel’s memory by designating outstanding student-athletes as members of the Hitters club. Those players got to wear gold helmets.

Ever since, the Hitters name has stuck. It’s on Glenbard West football T-shirts and other spirit wear.

And longtime fans are quick to note what the real school colors are: forest green — not the lighter, brighter Kelly green — and white.

For traditionalists, the modern-day black trim on home uniforms just doesn’t seem to fit.

“We never have accepted the black uniforms,” said longtime fan Jim Giesler.

Even the name of the school is a big deal.

Die-hard fans like Joe Carlton, who wrote a book on the history of the school’s football teams, still call it “Glenbard” — not “Glenbard West.”

It became West in 1959 when Glenbard East opened in Lombard.

“I don’t even know that word,” Carlton said of the “West” designation. “This is the Glenbard.”