TAMPA (April 28, 2015)—Along with raising over $16,000 for the Vs. Cancer Foundation, the USF baseball players and coaches shaved their heads Sunday afternoon to show their support for children who don't have a choice when it comes to losing their hair while battling cancer.
“It's an easy thing for us to come out here and do this,” redshirt junior Nik Alfonso said. “Even though I had a lot of hair, it's an easy step to make a big difference.”
The Vs. Cancer Foundation was founded by Chase Jones, a former University of North Carolina baseball player, who was diagnosed with Stage IV brain cancer as a college freshman. Jones beat cancer and worked with multiple childhood cancer organizations before establishing the foundation in 2012.
The team surpassed its goal of $15,000, raising $16,320 which ranks fifth out of 65 participating teams. The money the team has raised will be split between the Vs. Cancer Foundation and Tampa General Children's Hospital.
This was the first year the Bulls participated in shaving their heads for the foundation, with the event hitting extremely close to home. Last season, the team adopted a young cancer patient named Nick Wolf. Wolf was diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and was able to beat the disease twice. However, his cancer came back once again just before Christmas 2014 and in recent weeks, his conditioned has worsened.
“The impact that Nick Wolf has had on not only myself but also this team is something that will never be forgotten,” senior Kyle Teaf said. “He's done so much more for us than we could have ever done for him.”
Wolf's mother and grandfather were at Sunday's game, and his younger brother Scotty threw out the first pitch. Scotty got in on the head-shaving action, assisting Great Clips with the shaving of many of the player's heads.
“To have Nick's mom, brother and grandfather out here was something really special for us,” Teaf said. “It was something cool to show them that we're with them no matter what.”
Their hats may fit a little looser for the next couple weeks, but it's all worth it to support one of their own by looking just like him.
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