WLHS students 'dodge' cancer

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Avoiding injury was likely on the minds of some West Lafayette High School students on Sunday, but their overall goal was different: fighting cancer.

The Westside Boiler Invasion, a robotics team at West Lafayette High School, hosted a dodgeball tournament to raise money for cancer research.

Chief Marketing Executive of Boiler Invasion and a senior at West Lafayette High School, Ashley Deutsch, said normally their goal is to inspire people to go into the fields of science and technology. Today, however, they had a different goal.

"We thought about doing something in the community, so we thought of the idea of 'dodging cancer' for our dodgeball tournament. All the proceeds that we are getting for the t-shirts, food, for the raffle, and for the registrations all go for the cancer foundation at Purdue University," said Deutsch.

Teams of 4 to 6 players were made up of students in grades 9 through 12, with a $15 registration fee per team.

"Teams could start registering after winter break when they came back to school and then the forms were due this past Wednesday. So, it's really been a long term thing, but short term as far as everyone could see," said Deutsch.

Participant Josh Crabtree said his reason to play was obvious.

"It's for a good cause and it's fun so, I don't see why not. I like to help people," said Crabtree, who played on a team with three of his friends.

Deutsch said her and the members of Westside Boiler Invasion want to make one thing clear.

"Robotics kids are kind of stereotyped as kids who just sit in a lab and build robots. But, we care more than just about technology and robots. We care about people and the impact that science and technology has on people around the community and in the world," said Deutsch.

The Westside Boiler Invasion group hopes this tournament will not be their last.

"We're just hoping to get as much money as we can. We don't really have a goal because any kind of money that we get is good enough because we want to help the cancer foundation and help people not have cancer anymore," said Deutsch.

At the end of the day, a few bruises is a small sacrifice to pay for a charity that has such a big meaning.