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Spectators take in a game at the annual Popa Hops 16-inch Softball Tournaments in Kennedy Park on Friday, July 10, 2026.
Credit: Tim Moran for Block Club Chicago
MORGAN PARK — A midsummer night’s tradition that brings thousands of visitors to Kennedy Park saw perhaps its largest turnout ever while raising six figures for charity Friday night.
The 12th annual Papa Hops 16-inch Softball Tournament once again took over Kennedy Park, 11320 S.
Western Ave., on Friday, this time bringing an estimated crowd of 7,500 to the event.
“This is probably the biggest turnout we’ve ever had,” said Tommy Hopkins, one of the event’s primary organizers and one of four children of the late Tom “Papa Hops” Hopkins, in whose remembrance the tournament was formed in 2014.
“Papa Hops,” a beloved Morgan Park neighbor and St.
Cajetan parishioner, died of melanoma in 2014 at age 58.
The success and popularity surrounding the tournament has since resulted in the forming of the Tom Hopkins Foundation , which has a mission to “bring together a community to support loved ones battling cancer and assist local youth athletic programs,” according to its website.
“We’re very fortunate for the people in this community for sticking together,” Hopkins said.
“Whenever there’s a need or a special event going on, they come together to have a good time.
“This is a very special place,” he added.
The honorees who threw out the championship game first pitch this year and who will benefit from a portion of the event’s proceeds were Mary Kate Newman, a St.
Cajetan Elementary School teacher and breast cancer survivor, and Matt Knight, a Chicago firefighter and bone cancer fighter .
Beneficiaries of the foundation’s fundraising over the years have included countless local residents and families fighting cancer and other illnesses.
Funds have also been directed towards youth athletic programs, primarily ones associated with local Catholic schools like St.
Cajetan, which is the Hopkins family’s home base.
The annual Popa Hops 16-inch Softball Tournaments had an estimated turnout of 7,500 at Kennedy Park on Friday, July 10, 2026.
Credit: Tim Moran for Block Club Chicago
A member of team Ignition takes a swing at the annual Popa Hops 16-inch Softball Tournaments in Kennedy Park on Friday, July 10, 2026.
Credit: Tim Moran for Block Club Chicago
Local Celebs Make Appearances
Behind home plate for Friday night’s ceremonial first pitches were a pair of professional athletes and recent champions with ties to the neighborhood.
Acting as catcher for the first pitches were: Pat Coogan, who won the NCAA Division I football national championship with Indiana University this year and was later selected in the NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans, and Abbey Murphy , a Gold medal-winning Olympian as a member of the USA Women’s Hockey team and recently drafted member of the Seattle Torrent Professional Women’s Hockey League team
A pre-game ceremony for the tournament’s championship game included fireworks and the National Anthem sung by Dan “Big Cat” Katz of Barstool Sports, which Papa Hops organizers said has been a loyal sponsor of the tournament for years.
Between sponsorships, merchandise, food, vendors and raffles, Hopkins said the tournament normally raises more than $100,000 and this year’s total would no doubt surpass that once everything is added up.
Teammates high five eachother at the annual Popa Hops 16-inch Softball Tournaments in Kennedy Park on Friday, July 10, 2026.
Credit: Tim Moran for Block Club Chicago
‘The Hoppy Girls’ Help Keep Uncle’s Memory Alive
Every year at the Papa Hops tournament, a group of the late Tom Hopkins’ nieces, known collectively as the ‘Hoppy Girls,’ help raise funds for the foundation through merchandise sales.
These shirts, hats and other recognizable regalia are noticed year-round throughout the neighborhood.
First cousins Mary Ellen Schiavone and Kelly Vandenberg were teaming up at the merchandise tent, which sold out well before the championship game started Friday night.
Schiavone expressed amazement at “what started as just an annual softball tournament has turned into the epitome of what the South Side is all about.
“That’s about giving back for a good cause, which is exactly what our uncle was all about,” she said.
“We’re keeping his memory and legend alive,” Vandenberg added.
This year’s 32-team, single elimination tournament was packed with not only attendees but highly competitive games, close finishes and a few noticeable upsets on the fields.
In the end, the championship came down to Mint against Wally’s, with Mint taking home the crown for the third time in tournament history and the first since 2016.
Twenty members make up the Mint team, with about 70 to 80 percent of them still together from their 2015 and 2016 championship teams, Mint team member Jimmy Topps told Block Club.
“Winning this championship 10 years after our first one makes it even more special,” said Topps, who along with Mint teammate Eric Panick was named MVP of the tournament.
“Some guys have come and gone over the years, but for the most part it’s been the same core group of guys we started with, and I think that’s a big reason for our success.”
Topps said supporting the Tom Hopkins Foundation through participation in the tournament every year “has always meant a lot to us.”
“A lot of our guys grew up with the Hopkins family and are still great friends with them today,” he said.
“Mr.
Hopkins had a big impact on many of our lives, and supporting this cause is about much more than softball.”
Title Chase Continues
Winning a Papa Hops championship has eluded most of the teams that have consistently competed in the tournament over the years.
Mint’s 2026 win makes them the first three-time winners, with other teams Yahtzee, Jugg-Offs, and Ignition having won it twice.
Yup, Bagel Bus and the Gamblers have won it once.
The Birds, the self-proclaimed Buffalo Bills of the Papa Hops tournament, are among the squads still looking for that first title.
They lost their first-round matchup this year to the Cheddar team at St.
Christina Athletic Fields in Mount Greenwood.
First-round Papa Hops matchups this year were played at four neighborhood parks scattered through the 19th Ward: Mount Greenwood Park, Beverly Park, St.
Christina Athletic Fields and Kennedy Park, where the later rounds and eventual championship game are held before huge crowds.
“I think we’ve lost in every single round of the tournament,” The Birds team captain Brendan Garrett said.
“We may have the distinction of having played the most games without winning a championship.”
As one of the original 16 teams from the first tournament held in 2014, The Birds have since reached the final four three times, which included a runner-up finish in 2018.
But more important than breaking through with a championship is continuing to support the Hopkins Foundation.
Many of the Birds team members knew “Papa Hops” personally and remain forever grateful for his efforts to promote youth sports in the community.
“He was really like a second father to all of us,” Dan Connolly said.
“When we were growing up and looking for leagues to join, he was the one who started those leagues.
This is how we’re paying it back.”
“The least we can do is play softball,” Birds teammate Pat Cassidy added.
Like the Birds, Friday saw an early exit for the Squirts team.
They lost to Ignition — considered by more than a few to be a Papa Hops powerhouse — in an opening round game at Beverly Park.
“We got a tough draw,” Squirts player and Mount Greenwood resident Mike Kaufmann said.
Like many Papa Hops participants, Kaufmann is a recreational softball player who never played organized baseball while in school but has continued this particular passion well into adulthood.
Tournament participants range in age from recent college graduates to those entering their late 50’s.
“I just love playing softball,” Kaufmann said.
“And this is awesome for the neighborhood.
Everyone comes out to support it.”
A fireworks display accompanied a pre-game ceremony during the championship match at the annual Popa Hops Tournament in Kennedy Park on Friday, July 10, 2026.
Credit: Tim Moran for Block Club Chicago
Date Night Tradition
The night of the Papa Hops softball tournament has organically morphed from a way for friends to remember Tom Hopkins into a night to mark on the calendar — the second Friday of July — even for those who aren’t personally familiar with the Hopkins family.
Hayley Vincent and Matt Ciannella hadn’t been dating for long when they first attended the Papa Hops tournament as fans in 2024.
“He took me here on our third date,” Vincent said.
“And now it’s a tradition, we come here every year.”
It’s a tradition for thousands of others, too, and one that won’t stop not only in its remembrance of a beloved local figure but in supporting good causes as well.
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0%flagged-word coverageJimmy Topps
159 attributed words34% of attributed speech3.9% writer coverage
Attempt to Sell a Product or Service-3.9 pts
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