For just the second time in its illustrious history, the 47th annual Charlie Wedemeyer All-Star Football Game will be played at Los Gatos High School.
This year’s game—arguably the most well known and prestigious of the many prep football all star games in the Bay Area—is on Feb. 5 with a 6pm kickoff time. Once again, the game involves players from 46 high schools in Santa Clara County that are split up into two teams, the North and South.
Wedemeyer was 64 years old when he died in June 2010 after a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was survived by his wife, Lucy, their two children, Carri and Kale, and seven grandchildren.
Lucy, a longtime Los Gatos resident and local real estate agent, continues to play a prominent role in the All-Star Game festivities and said since the 2021 game was canceled due to Covid, there’s a little extra anticipation and excitement surrounding this year’s game.
“The whole thing is to encourage this younger generation to understand what sacrifice, determination and commitment is,” Lucy said. “And Charlie was all of those things.”
And then some. When Charlie was diagnosed with ALS at age 30, he was given one to three years to live. Instead, he lived 34 years with the disease and in that time led the Wildcats to a 78-18-1 record and seven league championships.
Charlie and Lucy were high school sweethearts at Punahou School in Hawaii and got married while they were in college at Michigan State. They were the subjects of a made-for-TV movie in the 1980s, and Charlie’s memory and impact continues to resonate today because of what transpired after his ALS diagnosis.
Despite losing the ability to walk or speak and being confined to a wheelchair within several years of his diagnosis, Charlie talked to his players through Lucy, using a language of blinks, eyebrow raises and cheek twitches, per Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times.
They later traveled the world doing speaking engagements, with Lucy reading Charlie’s lips to share their heartwarming and inspirational story. This past weekend, Lucy was in Hawaii as Charlie was inducted into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame in Honolulu. The festivities included a Polynesian High School Football All-Star Game.
“It was amazing, surreal and just extraordinary,” she said. “It was fun because so many people knew my husband or had seen the movie or heard about him through football. I’m in awe of everything they accomplished in how they ran everything and honored Charlie. It was a first-class endeavor.”
Even though Charlie was a football star in Hawaii and at Michigan State, where he was chosen to play in the East-West Shrine Classic and Hula Bowl, Lucy said Charlie’s induction into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame was based off his impact as a coach and inspiring countless student-athletes in life lessons.
“He was honored for his coaching career and endeavor in life to keep going and not quit in the face of horrible adversity,” Lucy said. “That was the story they wanted the kids to hear.”
Los Gatos High has four of its players in the all star game: Yuma Raux-Moriwaki, Quinn Merritt, Wil Dal Porto and Nathan Yore. Mountain View High’s Shelly Smith is the coach of the North and Pioneer’s Eric Perry the coach of the South team.
Raux-Moriwaki, who had a standout senior season at receiver and returning punts, couldn’t be more thrilled to be able to suit up one last time with some of his teammates and childhood friends from other schools as well. He played at Cupertino High in his freshman and sophomore seasons before transferring to Los Gatos before his junior year.
“It’s very special because I’m able to play with my old teammates from Cupertino,” he said. “To be selected this year is one of the things I’ve looked forward to since the season ended. I’m very thankful to Los Gatos coach (Mark) Krail for nominating me.”
Krail told Raux-Moriwaki at the team’s end of the season meeting when everyone is required to turn in their equipment.
“Coach called me out and told me to come to his room and I was wondering if I did anything wrong,” Raux-Moriwaki said. “Then he told me to keep my gear a little longer because I got selected to play in the game. It was a pleasant surprise. Quite honestly, I was thinking, ‘Oh man, did I do something unacceptable in the locker room or did I leave some gear on the floor, and was I going to get yelled at?’ It was really nice when I found out the real reason he wanted to see me.”
In addition to his Los Gatos teammates and former teammates at Cupertino, Raux-Moriwaki is friends with Santa Clara High linebacker Michael Rios. The two previously played together in a 7-on-7 passing league tournament and also flag football during middle school.
“I couldn’t ask for anything more to be in this game with some guys I’ve played with and grew up with,” said Raux-Moriwaki, who has a cumulative 4.4 GPA. “I’m also looking forward to getting to know a lot of guys from other teams. I want to enjoy this last experience because it’s probably going to be the last football game of my life.”
Lucy loves the fact that more people will learn about Charlie’s story because of this game, especially the players.
“It’s wonderful to see these young kids showcased in a game like this,” Lucy said. “I’m most impressed with the coaches, the volunteers and the people that really want to make a difference in these kids’ lives and have them hear Charlie’s story. That against the odds, he kept going and no matter what happens, no matter how hard things are, there is never a reason to quit. That’s what Charlie did—he kept going.”
NOTE: Additional game info and ticket purchases can be found on www.santaclaraallstar.com. All proceeds from the game go to Coaches Against Cancer and ALS Golden West Foundation.
Sports editor Emanuel Lee can be reached at [email protected] and (831) 886-0471, ext. 3958.
