Burlington, Waterford programs host tourney to benefit hurting families
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
Normally when sports teams from Burlington and Waterford face off on the fields and courts it’s as rivals who want nothing more than to put a serious beat-down on their counterparts from the neighboring community.
That’s the nature of sports rivalries.
On Saturday, however, that competitive drive to defeat one another has been set aside; displaced by a higher calling and bound together by a desire to help in separate – but similar – tragedies.
The girls youth basketball programs in Burlington and Waterford have joined forces to host a 3-on-3 benefit tournament at Burlington High School with all proceeds going to the Loos and Rozanski families.
Troy Loos, 45, of Burlington, and Brad Rozanski, 51, of Waterford, died within two days of each other – Loos on Sept. 15 from complications of COVID-19 and Rozanski on Sept. 17 in a car accident.
Both men left behind wives and three daughters as well as legacies as active fathers and community volunteers, including with their respective girls basketball programs.
“Everybody is looking for a way to help these families through something none of us can even imagine,” said Dena Brechtl, the Waterford Union High School varsity girls basketball coach. “It’s such a cool way to honor these men by having a bunch of girls in the gym playing basketball.”
Paula Evert, a coach in the Junior Lady Demons program and one of the event organizers, agreed.
“Both families are really all about basketball,” she said.
A sudden loss
According to Evert, people in both organizations have been drawn to the cause by the suddenness of the deaths and the impact they’ve had on the small communities.
The relative impact on the basketball programs is even greater with Troy Loos’ family heavily involved in the St. Mary Grade School and Catholic Central High School programs in addition to the Junior Lady Demons. The Rozanski family has been involved in the Junior Wolverine and Waterford Union High School girls basketball programs.
Kyle Foulke, who is the varsity girls basketball coach at Burlington High School and head of the Junior Lady Demons program, said Troy Loos was a huge contributor to the local program. His wife Karen also served as president of the organization’s board.
“Youth programs are the bread and butter to building a team,” Foulke said.
Brechtl, who coaches Rozanski’s daughter Bria at Waterford, said Brad was an avid supporter of both the youth and high school programs.
“When I see Bria (in the gym) I can almost see her dad sitting in the stands,” Brechtl said.
According to Evert, the common tragedies made people in the rival programs realize how much they have in common.
“We’re really working together well,” Evert said of the Junior Lady Demons and the Junior Wolverines. “The money is definitely going to a great cause.”
The joint effort and tournament have been dubbed Teaming up for a Cause – a slogan that’s printed on the T-shirts that will be sold during Saturday’s event.
The good cause
Both the Loos and Rozanski families lost their primary breadwinners and are working to build bridges to the future without the husbands and fathers who meant so much more to them than a paycheck.
The benefit money, which will join funds from other fundraising efforts in the past month and a half will help build that bridge, according to Evert.
The tournament proceeds will be split down the middle and given to each family.
The tournament is open to girls 3-on-3 teams at levels from third through eighth grade with up to 16 teams at each level, according to Evert.
The teams are charged $40 to enter ($10 for each team member) and each team will play at least three games of 10 minutes each.
To save costs and increase the proceeds, organizers decided to have coaches from their groups officiate the contests (rather than paying regular officials) and sought donations to stock the concessions stand for the day.
“Everything in our concessions stand has been donated,” Evert said. “The (local) business have been outstanding.”
The sponsors have donated between $50 and $2,000 each with most giving in the range of $300 to $500 Evert said.
Brechtl said she’s been blown away by the support shown by the local business community.
“In the Waterford basketball community we are all family,” she said. “We know that his challenge is not going to be easy for them, so any little thing we can do is special.”
Foulke echoed her sentiment.
“It’s great to see the community step up. It shows that sports are more than just games.”
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