Louisville celebrates 70 years of tradition with Shawnee Park's Thanksgiving Day Juice Bowl

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville's West End celebrated 70 years of tradition on Thanksgiving Day with the annual Juice Bowl in Shawnee Park.

"Fun, family, reunions and what else?" said organizer Waddell Elliott.

"Community," added organizer Robert Martin.

"Community, right," Elliott replied. "That's what it's gonna be."

It originally started at Chickasaw Park with only a handful of guys and no equipment. Now it's a full-on tournament at Shawnee Park, and it includes men and women of all ages playing football and flag football.

Louisville celebrates 70 years of tradition with Shawnee Park's 2022 Thanksgiving Day Juice Bowl

But some of the games aren't your typical backyard game of football after a turkey dinner.

"This is real tackle, knock-down, drag 'em out football," Elliott said. "And it gets heated at times. It does get heated, because everybody is competitive."

In 2016, seven people were shot and two were killed during the tournament. Organizers say that's the only time something like that has happened, and they hope to never see it again.