Local police, fire departments to compete in dodgeball
By Anthony D. Alonzo Post-Tribune correspondent September 19, 2012 11:24PM
Updated: October 21, 2012 2:57PM
The friendly neighborhood first responder normally seen racing down the street with sirens blaring or monitoring traffic from behind a viaduct with a radar gun will be contributing to the community in a different way: by hurling dodgeballs at other police or firefighters for charity.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Porter County-South Haven Unit is accepting reservations for teams from local police and fire departments to compete in their second annual “Battle of the Badges” dodgeball tournament. The event will be held on Oct. 6 at the South Haven club located at 723 Long Run Road in Valparaiso.
Local departments can enter a squad in the double-elimination tournament and compete for the “Battle of the Badges” traveling championship trophy. Team registration costs $100. All proceeds from the dodgeball event will benefit the South Haven club. Area residents are invited to attend the tournament with admission being $3.
The deadline to register teams is Sept. 30. Emergency responders interested in participating in the event can call Ron Ranta, unit director, at 759-2565 or e-mail him at rranta@bgcpoco.org.
Purdue to host half-marathon: Purdue University and the cities of Lafayette and West Lafayette will join together to sponsor the inaugural Purdue Boilermaker Half-Marathon and 5K, scheduled for Oct. 20.
The half-marathon route of 13.1 miles will take runners through campus and portions of both communities. They will cross the Wabash River to and from the two cities and will be challenged by hills. The 5K route of 3.1 miles meanders through the campus.
Purdue athletics director Morgan Burke said the university seized the opportunity to co-sponsor the event with the municipalities and the Lafayette-West Lafayette Convention & Visitors Bureau. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Purdue Athletes Life Success program, PALS, which brings about 500 local youth ages 8-14 to campus each summer for a healthy lifestyles sports mentorship program.
“We will all bring valuable resources to the table that will make this a successful athletic event for the participants, the university, both communities and the PALS program,” Burke said.
Registration for both runs can be completed at http://purduehalf.com. For more information, visit the Purdue Boilermaker Half-Marathon and 5K Facebook page.
Soccer skills challenge: Lake Shore Ford in Burns Harbor and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Porter County-Duneland Unit will host the Ford Escape Soccer Skills Challenge from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday at Friendship Park in Chesterton. The event is free and open to boys and girls ages 8 to 13.
Participants will be awarded points based on their performance of six different soccer skills: toe taps, foundations, juggling (right and left foot) and dribbling (right and left foot). The top-scorers — a boy and girl from each age group — will be given a trophy. All participants will receive a souvenir scorecard and a two-month iSoccer Plus membership.
Local winners will be invited to participate in a regional finals event to compete again for a trophy and other prizes. Lake Shore Ford will donate $500 to the Duneland club for building a local challenge competition. Additionally, parents or legal guardians of participants may enter for a chance to win a two-year lease of a 2013 Ford Escape.
For more information, call Joe Juarez, Duneland unit supervisor, at 926-9770, or at fordescapesoccerskillschallenge.com/findevent.
