Hooping For A Cure serves as community rally against cancer

Other than the actual Relay for Life of Charlotte, nothing brings people together to fight cancer quite like the annual Hooping For A Cure event at Charlotte High School. This year’s event takes place Friday, March 7 at 6 p.m. in the CHS dome.

Hooping For A Cure pits Charlotte High School students against staff in a charity basketball game that draws thousands of spectators each year. Now in its seventh year, Hooping For A Cure has raised more than $60,000 in its history and is one of the major reasons the Charlotte High School Relay for Life team is one of the top fundraisers each year.

Brent Crossman, creator and captain of the Charlotte High School Relay for Life team, started the event in 2007, marking the 25^th anniversary of his mom’s successful fight against breast cancer. He never envisioned the kind of impact it would have on the community.

“I didn’t think it would get this big,” Crossman said. “It’s a good thing and it’s a bad thing. The good thing is that we’re raising more money. The bad thing is reason it’s raising more — more and more people are being affected by this terrible disease. My wish is that I don’t have to do these anymore because we’ve come up with a cure. The bottom line is there isn’t a cure yet, and as long as there isn’t one, I’m going to do everything I can to help find one.”

Crossman said the event raised a few thousand dollars in the first couple years. Then one year he introduced t-shirts that could be purchased and used as a ticket to the game. Now the Hooping For A Cure crowd is always decked out in the “t-shirt of the year,” that displays an inspiring message in the fight against cancer, such as Fight Like A Girl, Hunting 4 A Cure, HOPE or Never Give Up, which is this year’s theme. T-shirts are available at the Charlotte High School main and athletic offices and are just $10. The shirts also serve as admission to the game as well as the concert following the game.

Crossman, a teacher at Charlotte High School, has even enlisted the help of high students to help design the shirts. He’s received close to 100 student design entries over the course of the past two years.

Other Relay for Life teams are also invited to the game to set up tables and booths to raise money for their own team. All proceeds go to the same place, Charlotte Relay for Life, which ultimately ends up with the American Cancer Society and its cancer research efforts.

The game typically draws a couple thousand spectators, many of whom are unified in the fight against cancer. If they didn’t come with that mission in mind, they certainly leave the CHS gymnasium with finding a cure for cancer at the forefront of their mind.

“I’m trying to find a cure for cancer just like everybody,” Crossman said. “This is just one way I can do that. I have the right resources to be able to make it happen … I’m a teacher; I have access and basketball is something I know. But, it has taken off and blossomed into something pretty cool and special.”