The Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District’s 14th annual Sally A. Lock Charity Game raised a record $11,400 for the American Cancer Society and Coaches Vs. Cancer.
The annual soccer game has been held at Jamesville-DeWitt since the fall of 2010, when Sally Lock, the sister of junior varsity boys soccer team head coach Paul Krause, was battling ovarian cancer for the second time in four years.
Lock died in December 2010, and Krause has continued to organize the fundraiser to honor her and support the fight against cancer.
“Every year I ask the players and their parents if they know someone who was diagnosed with cancer, and every time everyone holds their hands up,” Krause said. “I have lost three family members to cancer, another sister survived cancer, and lost many co-workers and former players to this disease. What we have done here at J-D is just a small part in the battle against cancer, and hopefully the funds raised through this event will get us closer to finding a cure.”
This year’s tournament was held Oct. 7 at J-D High School. The boys varsity and junior varsity soccer teams played against rivals Fayetteville-Manlius. Since the first event in 2010, the tournament has raised almost $90,000 through t-shirt sales and sponsorships. This year, the J-D boys soccer teams sold more than 488 shirts and obtained 39 sponsors.
“The amount raised over the years is incredible. Over the past 14 years, the J-D community has come out in full force to help our soccer players raise the money for our annual event, in which they continue to break the previous year’s record every year. I can’t thank everyone enough for what this means to me and my family” said Krause.
In 2020, the event was named the New York State Soccer Event of the Year.