Marisa Rose Bowl Spirit of the Game Award Named For East Brunswick's Noppenberger

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ - The Marisa Rose Bowl Spirit of the Game Award will be named after former East Brunswick High School Athletics Director Frank Noppenberger, the Marisa Tufaro Foundation announced.

Noppenberger currently serves as executive director of the Greater Middlesex Conference. He retired from East Brunswick School District in 2014 after almost three decades on the job.

The award will be given to the football player or cheerleader who is the top fundraiser for the second annual Bellamy and Sons Paving Marisa Rose Bowl, which will be held at Woodbridge High School on June 29 at 7 p.m.

All proceeds from the charity all-star football game will benefit The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, which assists pediatric patients and underserved children throughout the greater Middlesex County area.

The foundation is named after Marisa Rose Tufaro who survived six open-heart surgeries and a heart transplant before succumbing to a rare form of cancer in 2017. She was 13 years old at the time.

The foundation will be donating funds from the contest to PSE&G Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick and the Edison-based Lakeview School, a program of the New Jersey Institute for Disabilities.

“Noppenberger epitomizes the Spirit of the Game Award with his selflessness, giving nature and willingness to help others,” the organization said in a news release.

“He is a staunch supporter of high school athletics with an emphasis on sportsmanship and character who always promotes student-athletes in the most positive light.”

The Frank Noppenberger Spirit of the Game Award will be bestowed upon this year’s recipient during a pregame banquet at the Pines Manor in Edison.

Noppenberger, who serves on The Marisa Tufaro Foundation’s board of trustees, has made a great impact on the nonprofit, serving as a conduit between the organization and the Greater Middlesex Conference.

Since its inception less than six years ago, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has donated more than a quarter of a million dollars to fulfill its mission.

Additionally, the foundation has awarded $26,500 in academic scholarships to 38 high school graduates and an additional 20 scholarships for middle school and elementary school students to attend a weeklong summer art camp at Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum.