Woodbridge Tecmo Bowl Tournament will benefit Marisa Tufaro Foundation

A video game tournament being conducted as a fundraiser for The Marisa Tufaro Foundation would have gotten the competitive juices of the nonprofit organization’s namesake flowing.

Playing video games was among Marisa’s favorite pastimes, and she would have enjoyed the old-school flavor of the upcoming Woodbridge Township School District Tecmo Super Bowl Tournament, which will be conducted in the Woodbridge High School Media Center on Feb. 2, the day before Super Bowl LIII, from noon to 4 p.m.

A $25 donation per player, to be collected on the day of the tournament, includes lunch and a complimentary T-shirt.

All proceeds from the event will benefit The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, a tax-exempt nonprofit whose mission is to help children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.

Since its inception 18 months ago, the foundation had donated more than $60,000 and spearheaded several community initiatives that have benefited children associated with Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Center, Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital, Saint Peter’s University Children’s Hospital, Hands of Hope Food Pantry, Kiddie Keep Well Camp, the Lakeview School, the Ronald McDonald House of Central Jersey, Make-a-Wish New Jersey and others.

In addition, the nonprofit has assisted multiple families whose children are in medical crisis, providing financial support through the payment of medical and/or personal expense, and has granted more than $7,000 in scholarships.

Marisa was born with a complex cardiac defect that required six open-heart surgeries. Despite keeping hundreds of doctor’s appointments and being hospitalized for more than two years, she lived a vibrant life that inspired.

A heart transplant, which was supposed to extend Marisa’s life, tragically cut it short after a postoperative complication developed into a rare form of cancer. After radiation and chemotherapy treatments failed to thwart the relentless onslaught of an aggressive disease that riddled her brain and body, Marisa succumbed to her illness in January 2017 following a valiant battle. She was just 13 years old.

Playing video games – whether it be on her handheld Nintendo DS or Wii console – provided Marisa with a wonderful diversion through the many illnesses she battled including two life-threatening conditions that necessitated her heart transplant.

Realizing that modern video game systems were not her father’s forte, Marisa graciously indulged her dad, playing Pac-Man and other old-school games with him on an Atari Flashback she received one Christmas.

Marisa enjoyed occasional trips to YESTERcades, visiting locations in Somerville and Red Bank to engage in some old-school gaming, for which she clearly had a penchant. Tecmo Bowl would have been right in her wheelhouse.

Originally introduced in 1987 as an arcade game, Tecmo Bowl soon afterward became the first console game to feature NFL players through a licensing agreement with the league’s players’ association.

Tecmo Bowl teams are named after NFL franchises with each team mimicking the roster of those squads. All teams have an arsenal of four plays. Each team has a different level of effectiveness based on its personnel and play selection.

Woodbridge High School has been among The Marisa Tufaro Foundation’s biggest and most loyal supporters.

The high school fully funds in Marisa’s memory the Woodbridge High School Marisa Tufaro Memorial Scholarship and has donated its facilities and volunteered its staff to host the Greater Middlesex Conference All-Star girls and boys basketball games each of the past two years, with all proceeds from the doubleheader benefiting the foundation. Last month, Woodbridge sponsored the Marisa Tufaro Classic, a bowling tournament that raised money for the foundation and collected toys that were donated to a children’s hospital. The high school also donated all the money it collected from a dress down day to the foundation.

Two Woodbridge graduates, Charity-Temitope Daramola, and Jordan Cinelli, were recipients of the first annual Marisa Tufaro Foundation Greater Middlesex Conference Student-Athlete Scholarship and the Marisa Tufaro Memorial Community Service Scholarship, respectively.

Richard Maddock won last year’s Tecmo Super Bowl championship game of the double-elimination tournament with a lopsided victory over Michael Essig, who scored the second of two touchdowns in the closing minute with no time on the clock for a thrilling 28-21 semifinal win over Woodbridge High School Principal Glenn Lottmann to advance.

Woodbridge Township Public Schools Assistant Superintendent John Bader and Woodbridge High School teacher Brett Hoyer organized the event, which featured an all-star lineup of participants including Kevin Kane, Joe Ward, Mike Jago, Tom Leusen, Christopher Bergondo, Jason Bernstein, Christian Bader, John Dobos, Thomas Hines, Anthony Perez and others.

Ben Lepisto, a Woodbridge High School student who has fought a winning battle with brain cancer, and his younger brother, Joseph, competed in the tournament.

Woodbridge Township Councilman Kyle Anderson brought his twin sons to the tournament. Marisa’s father, Greg, who is a sports writer for the Home News Tribune, had the privilege of covering Anderson’s school-record-setting quarterback son, also named Kyle, when the signal caller starred for the Barrons from 2009-11.

Any questions regarding the Tecmo Bowl for Tufaro Foundation event should be emailed to Brett Hoyer at Brett.Hoyer@woodbridge.k12.nj.us.

The hot links below will take readers to stories detailing ways in which The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has assisted pediatric patients and children in need.