Tarleton Athletic Department hosting Knockout Cancer Tournament

Tarleton+Athletic+Department+hosting+Knockout+Cancer+Tournament

Angel Jauregui, Contributor

Tonight, the Tarleton State University Athletic Department is hosting a Knockout Tournament in the Recreational Center. Registration and shoot-around will begin at 5 p.m. with qualifying rounds set to start at 6 p.m.

The qualifying round is expected to run from 6-7:30 p.m. in the Rec Center. The entry fee for the qualifying round is $5 and if a person fails to qualify for the semifinals they can pay an additional $5 during the qualifying time in order to continue playing. Another option for the participants is to purchase a $20 unlimited wristband for unlimited attempts to qualify for semifinals.

The top two finishers in every qualifying game will advance to the semifinals. The semifinals will be held immediately after the qualifying rounds. The winners of the semifinals will advance to finals which will be held during Midnight Madness in Wisdom Gym on Friday, October 14 2016.

The winner of the tournament will receive a 50-in television courtesy of Gifford’s Electronics in Stephenville. The runner-up will receive a PlayStation 4 with NBA 2K17, and the first 100 players to qualify for the semifinals will receive a tournament shirt.

According to Assistant Athletic Director for Development, Byron Anderson, the athletic department wanted to put on this tournament in order “to do something in his honor to raise funds for a charity of his choice.”

All donations from this tournament will go to the Jimmy V. Foundation. According to Anderson “Coach Reisman chose this charity because of his admiration for Jim Valvano and the work that the foundation has done for cancer research over the years.” Also any direct donations made by attendees will also go the foundation.

Earlier in the year, Tarleton State University Athletic Director Lonn Reisman was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The Tarleton and Stephenville Community came together in order to support Reisman.

Anderson mentioned that this will be “a fun way to raise money and awareness for cancer that has or will affect all of us in some fashion over the course of our lifetime.”

The athletic department does not know how many students and community members will take part in the tournament, but Anderson says “Our goals is 200, [but] I personally think it will be many more.”