Dodge ball for a friend

Newport Harbor High students will play in tournament to benefit classmate diagnosed with cancer.Relatively few people at Newport Harbor High School know Lucas Campanaro. The ninth-grader had been on campus just over a month when he was diagnosed with cancer and had to enter the hospital.

Over the last week, however, Lucas’ name has become one of the most famous at Newport Harbor. The proceeds from the school’s first dodge ball tournament, to be held tonight in the Ralph K. Reed Gymnasium, will go to support his treatment and recovery.

“I haven’t heard much about him as a person,” said Audrey Nisbet, 17, Newport Harbor’s student body president. “Obviously, kids get sick a lot. But there’s a lot of teachers on campus who brought it up and really wanted us to do something, to dedicate our dodge ball tournament and raise money for him.”

Last year, the student body began holding dodge ball games during lunchtime strictly for fun. However, so many students showed interest in the sport that the school decided to hold an official tournament this fall. Tonight at 7 p.m., the Foundation of Christian Athletes, which beat out 21 other student teams for the school title, will face off against a squad of faculty members.

As it turned out, though, the student body had a higher calling than simply entertainment. April Helliwell, the club’s advisor, had Lucas in her freshman seminar class and learned about his diagnosis early last month.

“I talked to ASB [associated student body], and they said, ‘If we’re doing this faculty game, why not do it as fundraiser?’” Helliwell said. “It really snowballed from there.”

Principal Michael Vossen said the school rarely did benefits for only one student, but that Lucas’ case was special.

“Being diagnosed with cancer is not a situation that happens very often, so we felt obligated to pull this together on behalf of Lucas,” Vossen said. “This is a very tragic, unique circumstance.”

Lucas’ family could not be reached for comment. Vossen said the freshman was staying at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County.

Admission to the tournament is $5, but all attendees are free to donate more. For every $5 donated, the donor will receive a raffle ticket for door prizes, including Disneyland tickets, iPods, athletic gear and more.

Dodge ball is played with both large, red rubber balls and smaller ones known as “stingers.” The tournament will consist of up to 11 rounds, including a “dead man walking” bout in which one player on each team puts on a special jersey and must be guarded by his or her teammates. If the marked player is hit, the side loses.

The school first announced the dodge ball tournament at the beginning of November, and student teams began competing for the spot against the faculty. Audrey said that many of the clubs on campus put together their own teams, mostly comprised of boys. The student team in the tournament is officially coed, however, with at least two girls required on the court to start the game.

“I haven’t seen one predominantly female dodge ball team, but there have been girls who come out to watch and play,” Audrey said.

The faculty team consists of both men and women, -- and Helliwell is among those volunteering. She belongs to an adult dodge ball league, she said, and is tough enough to face the competition.