The Smash Cancer tennis invitational has been a must for years on the Lady Titan tennis schedule. This year the team chose Dr. Scott Ingler from Ingler Family Eye Care as the beneficiary of the team’s efforts to help rid the world of cancer.
“Every year we select a person from the community who has already had cancer or is going through cancer to help support them and to raise awareness for them,“ assistant tennis coach Coach Kyle Debord said.
To raise funds, the girls tennis team has been selling special shirts.
The team was happy to choose Ingler as the recipient of the team’s donations because he is known by many girls on the team according to Debord.
“I was truly honored and humbled that they had chosen me,” Ingler said. “So many people have reached out to me during this process. Each one stirs something inside of me and brings me joy. But, this one was even more special.”
The team has loved seeing the community come together to support Ingler. Having someone local as the recipient makes the community more generous to the cause.
“We think it’s really an awesome thing to be a part of something and raising money for something that isn’t tennis related,” sophomore varsity player Tali Maurer said. “Not only is it really neat for our team to play a role in an act of kindness like this, but it’s also been really cool to see how our community is so willing to step up and donate. It says a lot about the community we live in, and I think that’s something special!”
Ingler decided to give the donations to a charity he is part of, Granted Charity Event.
“It helps children with life threatening illnesses and their families,” Ingler said. “When a family receives a ‘Wish,’ they get to go to Disney. Or, meet John Cena. Or, they get a bedroom makeover. Something that gives the child hope and joy and motivation.”
Ingler has sponsored the girls tennis team, and many other Gibson Southern organizations, through his business, so they knew it was the least they could do to give back to him.
“He is a sponsor for the tennis team,” Debord said. “He donates monetarily. Personally, I love the guy and will do whatever I can to help him.”
The Smash Cancer matches are on May 4, in Jasper. This special tennis match started multiple years ago when a couple of schools in northern Indiana started it. Their goal was to raise awareness for cancer patients. It started with buying a shirt that matched a certain color associated with a specific type of cancer.
“Their goal was to raise awareness by the color of the shirt,” DeBord said. “We started that way, and it was a train wreck. So, now we just pick a person to honor and we do their cancer color. Our shirts are white, and we are just trying to raise as much money as we can.”
The team is hoping for a win at this invite, but win or lose, they know it is going to be an invitational where there is a bigger meaning than just winning a tennis match.
“I think the invite will go really well, win or lose,” Maurer said. “We always have some great competition at the Jasper invite that helps us improve. It’s a weekend of lots of team bonding, which I am super excited for.”
Throughout his treatments, Ingler has maintained a positive attitude and is improving, something the team and south Gibson community are happy to know.
“My treatments are going extremely well, “ Ingler said. “I have had virtually no side effects from lung cancer, or the treatments. And, at the halfway point of my chemo treatments, the mass has already shrunk by 75%.”
