MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Minnesota State University women's soccer and volleyball teams will hold their annual Cancer Awareness Games next week.
 
The soccer game will take place on Sunday, Oct. 16 at 1 p.m., and the volleyball match will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.
 
During the Digging for a Cure to Kick Out Cancer games, each team will be selling t-shirts to raise money for Pediatric Oncology at Sanford Health.
 
Women's volleyball junior captain Carly Masloski weighed in on the importance of this annual event. "The digging for a cure match is one of my favorite games of the year! Raising awareness for The Roger Maris Brave Kids Bold Cures for children's cancer is the main purpose of the event," said Masloski. "It is a pleasure to donate money to such an amazing organization that is helping children right here in our area."
 
13-year-old cancer survivor, Callie, came to speak to the Dragon soccer and volleyball teams a couple weeks ago. Callie was diagnosed with a brain tumor at only eight years old.
 
Callie and her family went to Rochester to undergo surgery to attempt to remove the tumor. She underwent 30 radiation treatments, all while still attending school. After the completion of the radiation treatments Callie underwent 14 months of chemotherapy. She was declared cancer free in September of 2012.
 
Unfortunately cancer can come back, and in Callie's case, it did. She had a regrowth in the same spot of her brain as before, only this time there was also another spot farther up the brain. Callie underwent more treatments for her tumors and was once again declared cancer free in July of 2016.
 
Even after undergoing more hospitalizations than most adults have gone though, it was great to see she was still just a kid with a great sense of humor. When recounting what Callie and her mother Katie did while in Rochester, Callie's response was, "We went shopping!" One of the student-athletes asked Callie what her favorite school subject was. Her response was "I don't like any of them." I think almost everyone in the room related to that at one point or another.
 
The members of the soccer and volleyball teams asked Callie some questions towards the end of her visit. When asked what she would like to see done with the money raised she replied, "Florida", and the room erupted in laughter. Perhaps the loudest praise came when Callie was asked what her favorite sport was, to which she replied "Volleyball!"
 
"I always love doing the Digging for a Cure to Kick out Cancer event because it really shows how fortunate we are to be here playing collegiate athletics," said senior women's volleyball captain Katie Meyers. "It was awesome meeting Callie and her mom. Callie was hilarious and she always had a smile on her face, and I think that's another reason why we do this. To see that these kids are struggling but always have a smile on their faces is inspiring."
 
All of the money raised during the Digging for a Cure to Kick Out Cancer events goes directly to the Sanford Hospital to the Pediatric Oncology unit to help with their efforts to provide the best care for the children. The funds are used to purchase specialized equipment for the children, along with prized for the kids to pick out after their visits.
 
"Having Callie and her mother come to campus to speak to the soccer and volleyball teams was incredibly impactful for the young women for a myriad of reasons," said women's soccer Head Coach Christie Chappell. "Firstly it reminded them that they are strong, female role models for the youth of this community; secondly that they are incredibly fortunate to be playing college sports for Dragon athletics and lastly Callie's journey reminded us to always fight as hard as you can because you will be stronger for it.  Thank you Callie so much for sharing your journey with us, we are so excited to have you at our game on Sunday October 16^th at 1 and only hope to have such a positive impact on you as you have had on us."
 
Callie is pictured above with the Dragon women's soccer and volleyball teams.
 
A check presentation to the Pediatric Oncology Unity at Sanford Health will take place prior to the volleyball game.