Chichester football club to host charity match to raise funds for 11-year-old battling cancer
A Chichester football club is bringing its community together this weekend for a special charity football match to support an 11-year-old boy battling stage four cancer.
Chichester Rangers will swap the usual footballing roles on Saturday, November 7, as club managers, coaches, parents and friends take to the pitch to raise money for Masion, who has been diagnosed with stage four rhabdomyosarcoma.
Stage 4 rhabdomyosarcoma is a rare and aggressive soft-tissue cancer that begins in muscle and has already spread to distant parts of the body, such as the lungs, liver, bones or bone marrow.
Treatment is often complex, involving chemotherapy, radiotherapy and sometimes surgery.
The match, at Tangmere Village Centre, will see two teams, The Tacticians and The Touchline Tribe, go head-to-head in a unique role reversal.
The Tacticians will feature the club's team managers and coaches, while The Touchline Tribe will consist of 19 parents, family members and friends who have volunteered to play.
Meanwhile, the club's usual youth players, aged between six and 14, will take charge of proceedings, leading the teams onto the pitch, conducting warm-ups, delivering team talks and directing tactics from the dugouts.
Masion will also play a special role, leading the teams out, carrying out the coin toss and presenting medals and trophies at the end of the match. A presentation stage has been kindly provided by Amber Scaffolding.
Chichester Rangers treasurer Laura Walder said the event was particularly close to the club's heart.
"The club is like a family, so to us Masion is one of our own. We would like to give back to the family and enable them to create as many memories with Masion as possible," she said.
"He's just 11 years old and, as a parent, I can't even begin to imagine what they are going through."
Saturday's event will also feature pizza from Pizza Nomad, a sweet stall from Sussex Sweet Treats and refreshments from the club, alongside fundraising activities and player-of-the-match voting.
Laura added: "We plan to make the charity match an annual event to give back to local causes. We are part of the community and, as such, want to give back to that community in any way that we can."