{"id":113997,"date":"2026-08-11T10:34:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T10:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/113997\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T10:34:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T10:34:24","slug":"northbrook-teen-represents-illinois-in-trumps-patriot-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/113997\/","title":{"rendered":"Northbrook teen represents Illinois in Trump\u2019s Patriot Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

Addy Goretskie \u201cfell in love\u201d with martial arts during the COVID-19 pandemic. This week, the 14-year-old is taking her skills to a national stage.<\/p>\n

Goretskie is one of two Illinois teenagers competing in the Patriot Games. The national athletic competition is hosted by Freedom 250, a White House-backed group created to fund and plan events commemorating the United States\u2019 250th birthday. The tournament runs Aug. 9-11 in Geneva, Ohio.<\/p>\n

The games will feature a range of athletic disciplines, including track and field, obstacle course challenges, tug-of-war, dodgeball, kickball and basketball. The athletes will also be tested on skills drawn from soccer, tennis, football, volleyball and baseball, according to Freedom 250.<\/p>\n

A total of 120 student-athletes aged 14 to 17 were selected to represent U.S. territories, military bases, tribal nations and states. They will compete for a $250,000 scholarship pool.\u00a0Applications opened in June, with hopefuls submitting videos introducing themselves and explaining their interest in the competition.<\/p>\n

Goretskie, who lives in Northbrook and is a rising freshman at Glenbrook North High School, said she found out about the Patriot Games on social media and decided to apply.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had nothing to do all summer and was bored, so (I) thought \u2018Why not?\u2019\u201d she told the Tribune.<\/p>\n

One male and one female student-athlete will be competing from each state. Goretskie said she\u2019s proud to be half of Illinois\u2019 team, alongside Maksymilian Lasnoski of Springfield.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a lot to me to have my state on my back,\u201d she said.\u00a0She\u2019s also thrilled to be the second youngest competitor \u2014 by five days, she said.<\/p>\n

\"Jace<\/p>\n

Jace Niles leads a huddle during day one of the Patriot Games, Aug. 9, 2026, in Geneva, Ohio. (Nate Manley\/AP)<\/p>\n

\"Sophie<\/p>\n

Sophie Skidmore, of West Virginia, participates in the flex arm hang during the Patriot Games, Aug. 9, 2026, in Geneva, Ohio. (Nate Manley\/AP)<\/p>\n

\"Participants<\/p>\n

Participants compete in the flex arm hang during day one of the Patriot Games, Aug. 9, 2026, in Geneva, Ohio. (Nate Manley\/AP)<\/p>\n

\"Participants<\/p>\n

Participants celebrate during day one of the Patriot Games, Aug. 9, 2026, in Geneva, Ohio. (Nate Manley\/AP)<\/p>\n

\"Kasen<\/p>\n

Kasen Armstrong of South Dakota participates in the medicine ball toss during day one of the Patriot Games, Aug. 9, 2026, in Geneva, Ohio. (Nate Manley\/AP)<\/p>\n

\"Participants<\/p>\n

Participants cheer during day one of the Patriot Games, Aug. 9, 2026, in Geneva, Ohio. (Nate Manley\/AP)<\/p>\n

\"Joshua<\/p>\n

Joshua Chechile of Vermont participates in the 55 meter hurdles during day one of the Patriot Games, Aug. 9, 2026, in Geneva, Ohio. (Nate Manley\/AP)<\/p>\n

\"Kasen<\/p>\n

Kasen Armstrong, of South Dakota, participates in kickball during day one of the Patriot Games, Aug. 9, 2026, in Geneva, Ohio. (Nate Manley\/AP)<\/p>\n

\"Participants<\/p>\n

Participants celebrate during day one of the Patriot Games, Aug. 9, 2026, in Geneva, Ohio. (Nate Manley\/AP)<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 9<\/p>\n

Jace Niles leads a huddle during day one of the Patriot Games, Aug. 9, 2026, in Geneva, Ohio. (Nate Manley\/AP)<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

At the event, participants have access to professional trainers and referees, along with training facilities and gear. The games will be streamed on the ESPN app, culminating in a one-hour primetime special on ABC.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey treat these girls and boys like stars,\u201d said Goretskie\u2019s mother, Sheryl Goretskie. \u201cIt\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three-day event has been met with controversy. After its announcement in December, critics, including Gov. JB Pritzker, were quick to compare the competition to the dystopian \u201cHunger Games\u201d series, written by Suzanne Collins. On Dec. 18, Pritzker posted a picture of the fictional character President Snow raising a glass of champagne. The Democratic Party also posted a clip from the 2012 film on X, formerly Twitter.<\/p>\n

\"AddyAddy Goretskie, 14, is competing in the Patriot Games running Aug. 9-11. (Sheryl Goretskie)<\/p>\n

But for Sheryl Goretskie, supporting Addy is what matters most. Last year, the Goretskie family\u2019s youngest son was diagnosed with leukemia. He is now in remission.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur family\u2019s been through a lot, and for Addy to get this attention that she deserves, for her to thrive after the year we\u2019ve had, none of (the controversy) matters to me,\u201d Goretskie said. \u201cThis is about her, this is about the athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the games, Goretskie said she hopes to qualify for the state cross-country championship and to one day represent the United States internationally in martial arts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis experience has taught me how hard work really pays off,\u201d Goretskie said. \u201cDon\u2019t believe you can\u2019t get it because you really can.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Addy Goretskie \u201cfell in love\u201d with martial arts during the COVID-19 pandemic. This week, the 14-year-old is taking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7],"tags":[55495,55077,65,55497,55496,55076,55498],"class_list":["post-113997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-geneva","tag-addy-goretskie","tag-freedom-250","tag-geneva","tag-maksymilian-lasnoski","tag-northbrook","tag-patriot-games","tag-springfield"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/117076431053399435","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}