The CHILL honors student with 3v3 tournament
By: Rachel Cain – Staff Writer
Flyer Enterprise’s The CHILL will host its seventh annual 3v3 charity basketball tournament in honor of University of Dayton student Elizabeth Dadey on Saturday, April 5.
This year, the tournament’s proceeds will be donated to the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh – Child Life Department. Dadey, a junior medicinal-pharmaceutical major, died in August after a battle with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer that affects muscles attached to the bone, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s website. Dadey was an honors student, a member of the women’s rugby team and an active brother in the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega.
Dominique Schiano, a senior marketing major and director of marketing for the CHILL, made the decision to hold the tournament in honor of Dadey. Schiano said she knew Dadey since freshman year.
“She was always willing to help people and support them, so I wanted to support her,” Schiano said.
Through a conversation with Dadey’s father, Schiano developed the plan to support the Child Life Department at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
“That was the floor where she got all her treatment on and spent a lot of time. When she passed away, she wanted to give back to them everything that they gave to her,” said Marty Burns, a junior communication major and close friend of Dadey’s.
The Child Life Department’s main goal is to create a supportive environment for patients and their families and to help them understand and cope with their medical conditions, as described on their official website.
“As much as Elizabeth couldn’t be in Dayton with all of her friends, she started a family there at Children’s Hospital with the life specialists, where the money is directly going,” Burns said.
The CHILL’s tournament has two pools: a competitive pool and a co-ed (non-competitive) pool. Each team plays two games through their pool, then the winners advance to the next round, according to the CHILL’s website.
“There’s a fun, relaxed atmosphere,” said Joe Skarbek, a senior accounting major and general manager of the CHILL. “It’s good, fun, competitive, but not overly competitive.”
The winning team of each pool receives a prize basket, Schiano said. In addition, each member of every team will receive a free T-shirt and five raffle tickets. The raffle prizes include a free Dayton 2 Daytona trip, an iPod, tickets to a Cincinnati Reds game, a Mary Kay basket and gift cards to locations on Brown Street, Schiano said.
Schiano encouraged those who don’t register for a team to still come and support the cause. She said they can participate in the raffle and enjoy the CHILL’s featured smoothie for that week. All of the profits from the raffle and a percentage of the profits from the smoothies will be donated to the Child Life Department.
“Elizabeth saw UD as home and as a great source of support,” Burns said. “She really thrived on the sense of community here at UD. She saw how many opportunities Dayton has and wanted people to get involved in that. You’re a Flyer forever and always.”
Burns described Dadey as a “shining star” to all around her because of her positive, yet always realistic personality. He said she was not afraid to “tell you how it is.”
“The biggest thing I will really take out of her look on life is just the sense of how we all just want to live in the moment, and not worry what’s going to happen in the future or what happened in the past,” Burns said.
“I’m very happy the CHILL is doing this,” Burns said about the tournament. “They’re giving back to my best friend who did all these things for me.”
Registration for teams is $15 per team until Feb. 28. After Feb. 28, registration is $30 until it closes on March 24. Teams can register online at www.udayton.edu/students/chill/#3.