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Match between volleyball rivals raises money for breast cancer support organization


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By Terry Boehmker
NKy Tribune sports reporter

The long-standing rivalry between the St. Henry and Notre Dame volleyball teams has become a match where both sides earn bragging rights no matter which one wins.

For the last eight years, the regular-season showdown between the perennial powers has raised thousands of dollars for I Have Wings, an organization that supports breast cancer patients and their families.

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Janet Chambers, founder of I Have Wings, gets a hug from one of the students who received a $1,000 scholarship during this year’s Playing For A Purpose volleyball match. (Photos by Bob Jackson)

Fans attending the freshman, junior varsity and varsity matches last Friday at Thomas More College wore “Playing For A Purpose” t-shirts that were sold at both schools with the proceeds going directly to I Have Wings.

The fund-raiser has become so popular that the Thomas More gymnasium was filled to capacity long before the varsity match began and many fans had to be turned away at the door.

“Both schools hold a special place in my heart,” said Janet Chambers, the founder of I Have Wings and a breast cancer survivor.

“We are a Christian foundation so we want to make sure the kids understand we are all called to serve, and that’s what this (match) is all about,” Chambers added. “They need to know through their participation, no matter how small, it reduces the stress of breast cancer diagnoses.”

St. Henry volleyball coach Maureen Kaiser started the “Playing For A Purpose” fund-raiser with Notre Dame in 2008 when one of her friends was dealing with breast cancer. The first match at St. Henry was a sell-out. They moved it to Thomas More College to accommodate more fans and it still draws an overflow crowd at that 1,200-seat gym.

“People love the event and I think it’s well received and well respected,” Kaiser said. “I tell our players, ‘Just sit back and look around. I don’t care if you play in college or not, you’ll never play in front of a crowd this size and for what it means.”

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Alex Shea, center, and his parents, Brian and Kim, share good news about his battle with lymphoma during presentations before the varsity match. (Photos by Bob Jackson)

Before the varsity match on Friday, Chambers awarded a $1,000 scholarship from I Have Wings to a student at each school who has a relative that battled breast cancer.

There were other presentations where players and students paid tribute to breast cancer survivors in their family who were in the crowd. There was also a special presentation for St. Henry sophomore Alex Shea, who was diagnosed with lymphoma in April.

After five months of chemotherapy treatments, a scan detected no signs of cancer in the St. Henry student. To celebrate his recovery, Alex and his family received tickets to a University of Notre Dame  football game along with a weekend stay at a cottage on Lake Michigan.

Brian Shea, the student’s father, was grateful that organizers of this year’s volleyball match included his son in the program.

“After you’ve been a part of something like what he’s gone through, like the shirts say, they are playing for a purpose, no doubt about it,” the father said.

Notre Dame won the varsity match against St. Henry on Friday, but both teams had a reason to celebrate after the whistle that ended the match.

“I want to make sure that they know every serve, every spike, every effort that they put into the game is not overlooked,” Chambers said.


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