Turner Valley will soon have a new annual sports tradition in the form of the Legacy Cup.

Chris Carbert, Turner Valley volunteer fire fighter, is organizing a charity basketball game for the Legacy Cup, where the Grade 6 Tiger's team from the Turner Valley School will take on members of the Turner Valley Fire Department.

Carbert says he and his wife came up with the idea when they learned a fellow volunteer fire fighter's family was going through a tough time.

"My co-worker on the department Matt Hayward's son was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes so my wife and I thought, 'what can we do to show our support and care for him, his wife and Toryn?'. Our daughter actually plays basketball so I talked to the school principal about creating a charity game and it's exploded from there."

Hayward says it's an incredible feeling to have so many close families to rely on within the department and the community.

"In a fire service you have your immediate family; wife, husband and children, but then you have a secondary family of the other members and their families," he says. "It's an amazing feeling to have someone reach out and say 'hey we want to help you with this, how can we do it, and here's what we have planned.' It's a great feeling."

Carbert says all proceeds will be split 50/50 with half of them going to help the school build a new playground as well as to the Juvenile Diabetes Reasearch Foundation.

"Half will go to go to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the other half will go to the school's Legacy Project as they're trying to build a new playground for the kids." Carbert adds "The school needs as much help with funds as they can get so I thought why not tie the two together."

The Legacy Game has turned into the Legacy Cup as support for the initiative has grown.  

Carbert says it's going to be an annual game where the fire fighters will challenge the Grade 6 class to a different sporting event each year.

"I have a trophy company who's donated a trophy to the school, it's going to be called the Legacy Cup, hopefully one of these years we'll win the cup but more than likely it will stay on permanent display at the school."

Patagonia has donated 24 swag bags for students participating in the game as well as two prize packs for the female and male M.V.P of the game.

The Foothills Lions Club are also stepping up providing funding for a BBQ lunch after the game, among other local sponsors and businesses who are donating to the initiatives.

Donations of any amount can be made by cash or cheque to the Turner Valley School and made out to the Foothills School Division and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

The game will take place Apr. 12.

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