Get the Peoria Punishers to the Pigskin Classic!

I’m Melissa Gonzales, a 2023 co-owner of the Peoria Punishers alongside Justin Miller and most recently the sole owner in the season to come in 2024, as Justin has stepped down to do recruitment and focus simply on the love of playing the game after 4 successful years.

The Peoria Punishers Football team comes with many accolades… we are currently going on an undefeated streak of 43-0 and are 4 time champions of the Mid American 8 Man Football League based here out of Central Illinois. We also hold a National Championship title from 2021. There is an undisputed, incredible amount of talented athletes from our local hometown area.

We most recently were invited to play for another National title in the SPFL Pigskin Classic. This is a huge event put on by a different semi-pro football league out of Minnesota and is held at US Bank Stadium, home of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. It includes 24 adult teams (men’s and women’s) and 30 youth football teams.

We would be playing the champion of their league for a National title (team TBD July 29th after their championship game)... ON AN NFL FIELD!!! We will be playing a different set of rules, by playing a mix of 9man/8man. We were not afforded an opportunity for a national title in 2022 due to extenuating circumstances beyond our team and league’s control.

However, this sort of opportunity does come with a price tag… it is $3500 even to secure and enter the event, and that is without the cost of lodging and a 7+ hour travel for our team.

Our team doesn’t come from money. We will struggle with raising these funds. We are a team built on pure, raw talent and energy. These players we have are incredible, and deserve this chance and opportunity to be seen and shine on such a remarkable stage.

Each player will be attempting to sell tickets to the 2 day event on September 30-October 1. However, this will only slightly offset some of their costs. Every one of our players works full time and supports a family.

As an organization, we are looking to raise enough funds to cover the entry fee and get sponsorships for this outside of our normal season sponsors. We can provide tickets to the event in Minneapolis to interested benefactors where appropriate, or send a tax deductible receipt outside of GoFundMe.

Please consider helping get us there! If anyone in semi-pro football deserves it, it’s the talented athletes/players from PEP. We would be incredibly grateful. We as a team have way too much ammo to sit at home and watch this pass us by!