For Mike Slonina, the basketball court has always been a world of its own.
And so, just before his senior year at Catholic Memorial, Mike came here to the school gym after his mother shared the worst news of his life.
“She said they found a brain tumor and they think it’s brain cancer,” said Slonina. “They told her, she’s a photographer, they told her to cancel all of her photography jobs for the next three months because they don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Mike’s mom, who raised him on her own, might not see him graduate high school. He felt helpless. Then, he came up with a game plan: raise awareness and money for brain cancer research.
He trained for nearly a year, lined up $17,000 in donations and on April 9th of 2011 started shooting baskets for twenty-four hours straight.
“I thought about all the people going through chemo, all the people that had lost a loved one, the fact I thought I was going to lose a loved one. When you think of it like that fire runs through your veins,” said Slonina.
Mike met his goal.
Mike’s one-man shooting contest has grown into a full-scale charity. While he was still in college he launched “A Shot for Life”. Sixteen boys and sixteen girls, some of Massachusetts’ top high school basketball players, are invited to compete in a two-hour shooting contest.
Eight courts here at the University Sports Complex in Hanover are filled and, on the sideline bleachers, the family of sixteen-year-old Meg Reen cheers every time she hits one.
Meg plays point guard for Norwell High. She raised more than $6,000 for this event.
“It feels good, being able to give back, not only give back but to use basketball to do it,” said Reen. “I think that’s the best part about it.”
Which is part of Mike’s goal, to give young people a chance to give back. Over the last three years, “A Shot for Life” has raised $100,000 for brain cancer research. And, perhaps best of all, the woman who inspired the event, Mike’s mom, is here, too. Camera in hand, she’s taking pictures of the players.
Five years after that initial diagnosis, Betsy Cullen still has a brain tumor. But it’s tiny and does not appear to be growing.
More research is needed. And Mike believes basketball can help fund it. He just graduated from college and now plans to take “A Shot for Life” national.
“I totally plan on raising over a million dollars. I totally plan on raising over ten,” said Slonina. “That’s how I see the progression of this going. Just like I saw the clock winding down on April 2011, that’s how I see that money being raised. I know it’s going to happen.”
So does his Mom. When Mike was in second grade she told him basketball games were just for fun. His response: you don’t play for fun, you play to win, winning is fun.
And for Mike, winning now means raising enough money to be a game changer for brain cancer patients.