History

May 9, 2012

SmashCancer 1.0

The SmashCancer concept began on May 9, 2012, when Delta hosted Yorktown in a girls’ tennis match. The two rivals combined to raise more than $1,100 for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life program. All 90+ team members from both rival schools wore special SmashCancer T-shirts with multiple colors representing a wide range of cancers. Altogether, about 300 shirts were sold to players, students and fans. In a ceremony prior to the match, several cancer survivors and family members hit out “honorary first serves.” Breast cancer survivor Beth Parris (whose sons Aaron and Isaac played tennis at DHS); bone cancer survivor Rob Robbins (whose sons Rob and Kelly played tennis at DHS); sarcoma survivor Katy Vasalakis (who was the top player for Yorktown); and John Thomas Devine, grandson of Delta teacher Tom Devine (who passed away from colon cancer in January 2012) hit the honorary first serves.

February 2013

Presentation to State Coaches

In February 2013, Coach Tim Cleland from Delta, Coach Jini Morgan from Yorktown, and several Delta players made a presentation on SmashCancer to 150 high school coaches at the State Tennis Convention in Indianapolis. In Spring 2013 and Fall 2013, approximately 20 SmashCancer matches were played throughout the state, raising an estimated $35,000 for the fight against cancer. Many of those events still continue to this day, and others have sprung up, More than $350,000 has been raised statewide in SmashCancer events.

May 2013

SmashCancer 2.0

The Delta-Yorktown match in May 2013 was dubbed SmashCancer 2.0 “Putting the Rivalry Aside.” The teams combined to sell more than 900 T-shirts and raised more than $4,000 for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life program. In addition to multi-colored shirts and “server survivors” hitting out first serves, there was a white balloon release, concessions sold, special multi-colored wristbands, and homemade signs carried by each player to honor a cancer victim or cancer survivor.

Spring 2014

SmashCancer 3.0

SmashCancer 3.0 was hosted by Delta in Spring 2014. The teams sold 1,137 t-shirts and raised almost $4,500 for the Cancer Center at IU Health Ball, the American Cancer Society Relay for Life program, and the Little Red Door Cancer Services of East Central Indiana.

Spring 2015

SmashCancer 4.0

SmashCancer 4.0 was hosted by Yorktown in Spring 2015. The teams sold 1,174 t-shirts, which included a tie-dye option for the first time. They raised almost $4,800 for the Cancer Center at IU Health Ball, the American Cancer Society Relay for Life program, and the Little Red Door Cancer Services of East Central Indiana.

Spring 2016

SmashCancer 5.0

SmashCancer 5.0 was hosted by Delta in Spring 2016. The teams increased their record to 1,181 items of apparel, which included dri-fit short sleeve and cotton long sleeve t-shirts, tie-dye shirts, and sweatshirts in multiple colors. The teams also sold corporate signage. The Eagles and Tigers raised almost $5,500 for the Cancer Center at IU Health Ball, the American Cancer Society Relay for Life program, and the Little Red Door Cancer Services of East Central Indiana.

Spring 2017

SmashCancer 6.0

SmashCancer 6.0 was hosted by Yorktown in Spring 2017. The teams sold 740 items of apparel, which included dri-fit short sleeve and cotton long sleeve t-shirts, tie dye shirts, and sweatshirts in multiple colors. The teams also increased their total of corporate signage and sold concessions. The Eagles and Tigers raised almost $6,000 for the Cancer Center at IU Health Ball, the American Cancer Society Relay for Life program, and the Little Red Door Cancer Services of East Central Indiana.

Spring 2018

SmashCancer 7.0

SmashCancer 7.0 was hosted by Delta in Spring 2018. The teams sold 774 items of apparel, which included cotton short sleeve and cotton long sleeve t-shirts, tie-dye shirts, sweatshirts, 3/4 baseball tees, and hats in multiple colors. The teams also increased their total of corporate signage and sold concessions. The Eagles and Tigers raised almost $7,400 for the Cancer Center at IU Health Ball, the American Cancer Society Relay for Life program, and the Little Red Door Cancer Services of East Central Indiana as well as the family of Christian Daugherty (Albany Elementary student) and Alex’s Lemonade Stand for childhood cancer research funding in honor of Amanda Kirby (Delta HS student).

Spring 2019

SmashCancer 8.0

SmashCancer 8.0 was hosted by Yorktown in Spring 2019. The teams sold 804 items of apparel, which included dri-fit short sleeve and cotton long sleeve t-shirts, short-sleeve tie-dye shirts, 3/4 baseball tees, and hats in multiple colors. The teams also increased their total of corporate signage and sold concessions. The Eagles and Tigers raised over $8,000 for the Cancer Center at IU Health Ball, the American Cancer Society Relay for Life program, and the Little Red Door Cancer Services of East Central Indiana as well as the families of Christian Daugherty (Albany Elementary student), Emeri Barger (Albany Elementary student), and Alex’s Lemonade Stand for childhood cancer research funding in honor of Amanda Kirby (Delta HS student).

Spring 2020

SmashCancer 9.0

SmashCancer was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

May 4, 2021

SmashCancer 9.1

After a one-year delay, SmashCancer 9.1 was hosted by Delta in Spring 2021. The teams sold more than 950 items of apparel via an online store. Apparel included dri-fit short sleeve and cotton long sleeve t-shirts, crewneck sweatshirts, visors and hats in multiple colors. The teams also increased their total of corporate signage (77 signs sold). The teams also sold SmashCancer keychains and bracelets. Due to Covid-19 protocols, there were no concessions. The Eagles and Tigers raised over $15,000 for the Cancer Center at IU Health Ball, the American Cancer Society Relay for Life program, and the Little Red Door Cancer Services of East Central Indiana as well as the families of Aubree Seals (Delta HS student whose father battled Stage 4 Cancer), and the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation in honor of Delcom Supt. Reece Mann, who also was a Server Survivor.

May 3, 2022

SmashCancer 10.0

SmashCancer 10.0 was hosted by Yorktown in Spring 2022. The teams sold just over 900 apparel items in the online store and sold more than 100 sponsor signs and had 40 Server Survivors. The event raised a record total of $15,500 for the beneficiaries, which were the Cancer Center at IU Health Ball, the Little Red Door Cancer Services of East Central Indiana, the family of Delta student Megan Hiday, the family of Yorktown second grader Kavry Jester, and more.

Spring 2023

SmashCancer 11.0

SmashCancer 11.0 was hosted by Delta in Spring 2023. The teams sold more than 900 apparel items in the online store and sold a record total of 110 sponsor signs and had 57 Server Survivors. In addition, there was a special raffle for on-the-field Indianapolis Colts tickets. The event raised a record total of $20,500 for the beneficiaries, which were the Cancer Center at IU Health Ball, the Little Red Door Cancer Services of East Central Indiana, the family of Delta Middle School teacher Dave Reade, the family of Delta student Megan Hiday, the family of Yorktown mother Candace Ford, and the family of Delta staffer Dawn Crawley,

Spring 2024

SmashCancer 12.0

SmashCancer 12.0 was hosted by Yorktown in Spring 2024. The teams sold more than 700 apparel items in the online store and sold a record total of 125 sponsor signs and had a record 63 Server Survivors. The new event website, www.smashcancer.org, enabled online donations. In addition, there was a special raffle for on-the-field Indianapolis Colts tickets as well as tickets to the Cincinnati Open pro tennis tournament and Kings Island. The event raised a record total of $22,000 for the beneficiaries, which were the Cancer Center at IU Health Ball, the Little Red Door Cancer Services of East Central Indiana, and seven local families: the family of Delta Middle School teacher Dave Reade, the family of Yorktown elementary teacher Randy Reffett, the family of former Delta IT staffer Roy Schaus, the family of former Yorktown Middle School cafeteria director Doris Slaven, the family of former Delta HS student Megan Hiday, and two additional families who suffered tragic losses due to cancer. The Flannery family (whose son Chase goes to Delta) lost their 8-year-old son William to cancer. The Schmidt family (whose seven children are in Yorktown Schools) lost their father Nathan to cancer.

Spring 2025

SmashCancer 13.0

SmashCancer 13.0 was hosted by Delta in Spring 2025. The teams sold more than 750 apparel items in the online store and sold a total of 115 sponsor signs and had a record 70 Server Survivors. In addition, there was a special raffle for Notre Dame football tickets as well as tickets to the Cincinnati Reds baseball games and the Cincinnati Open pro tennis tournament. The event raised a record total of $23,000 for the beneficiaries, which were the Cancer Center at IU Health Ball, the Little Red Door Cancer Services of East Central Indiana, and the families of local cancer patients Ron Pan, April Stinson, Julie Buckner, Lisa Logan and Alexa Masiongale.