If you think your dodgeball playing days were over in high school, think again.
The second-annual Tom Vadas Memorial “Dodge for the Cure” – which benefits the Martin Memorial inpatient oncology unit – will return in May, giving rusty dodgeball warriors the chance to practice their skills in the sport’s four D’s: dodge, duck, dip and dive.
Because team reservations for last year’s inaugural tournament went so quickly, this year event organizers are doubling the size of the field and holding a kickoff party for teams interested in registering early. On Tuesday, Feb. 10, players interested in participating in the tournament can register their teams and be ensured of reserving a spot in the field.
The kickoff party will be held at the Martin Memorial Medical Center conference room, located at 200 S.E. Hospital Ave. It will take place in two sessions, with the first going from 6-7 p.m., followed by a second session from 7-8 p.m. During each session, team captains can tour the inpatient oncology unit to see how their donations will help benefit Treasure Coast cancer patients.
The registration fee for each team is $100.
The tournament will be held Saturday, May 9 in the Jensen Beach High School gymnasium. The youth division (fifth through eighth graders) will kick things off at 3 p.m., with the adult division (ninth grade on up) beginning at 6:30 p.m. Each team includes six to eight players.
The “old school dodgeball tournament” is expected to feature approximately 60 teams in two divisions, squaring off to beat each other – and cancer. Funds from the tournament go to the inpatient cancer unit at Martin Memorial. For many cancer patients and their families, the unit becomes a home away from home as they battle the disease. The goal of the tournament is to raise funds to purchase amenities that will help their sometimes lengthy stays more comfortable. Last year’s event raised more than $11,000.
The tournament was created in memory of Tom Vadas, who fought Hodgkin’s lymphoma for 16 years before passing away in 2007. Tom spent most of the last year of his life in the cancer unit at Martin Memorial, and he wanted to create a place where patients and their families could feel upbeat and motivated to continue their fight against cancer each day.
For more information on the event, visit dodgeforthecure.blogspot.com.
--Scott Samples
Public Information Coordinator
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