Something Positive with the Sport

Tim Donegan and Blaize Pennington were faced with a very tough situation last fall. On November 10th their good friend, Pat Wood, committed suicide. They had a choice, as most people do when faced with a tough circumstance, to either cave under the pressure and overwhelming emotions of losing a close friend or doing something positive with the situation.

As you may have guessed from the title of this post, they decided to do something positive. Both Tim and Blaize are members of the Franklin High School Ultimate team, as was Pat. As a result, they decided to hold a tournament in Pat's honor to raise awareness for the issue of teen suicide. "We decided that we would have a tournament to raise awareness about the situation because not many people know how much it effects them," said Tim.

Dubbed the Franklin High School Ultimate Invitational, they decided that the proceeds from the tournament would go raising awareness about teen suicide, according to Blaize. The charity decided upon was Tennessee Voices for Children. According to their website the organization has as its mission to "speak out as active advocates for the emotional and behavioral well-being of children and their families."

Blaize and Tim have been planning the tournament for since March and have secured a corporate sponsor in Quiznos, who also sponsors their team through their regular season. The tournament will feature 7 teams from around the state and one team traveling from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The Franklin High School team, which took 3rd in the state last year, and the tournament itself are not directly sponsored by the school, according to Tim. In fact some within the school share the same opinion of many around the country: skepticism about ultimate as a sport. However, "[the tournament] has opened the school up to the sport," said Tim.

When asked what they wanted to accomplish through the tournament, they both had similar responses, "We hope to get out the message that suicide solves nothing, and express that even when you think no one loves you, you'd be suprised how many people do," said Blaize.

They hope to raise $1,000 for Tennessee Voices for Children through the tournament, which will be held this weekend, exactly one year since Pat passed away.

"We need to realize that no matter how bad we think it is that there is allways something better than suicide. there is allways a way out and we all can just ask for help with our problems," said Tim.



If you would like to go out and watch the tournament...
Cheek Park
Claude Yates Dr.
Franklin, TN 37064
Off of Hillsboro Rd.
website - http://www.freewebs.com/fhsultimate/

If you would like to send a donation...
Tennessee Voices for Children
1315 8th Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203
website - http://www.tnvoices.org/