More than 300 kids dribbled their basketballs in a walk around campus Sunday morning as part of Dribble for the Cure, an event designed to help raise money for pediatric cancer research.
John Vallely, a former UCLA basketball player, organized the event and asked men’s basketball coach Ben Howland to help with the event.
Howland spoke to kids and their parents during a brief welcome ceremony outside of Pauley Pavilion before the walk began.
“We are very excited to have so many people here in our first year of raising money to find a cure for pediatric cancer,” he said. “For a first-year event, this thing is really going to grow into something huge. It’s great to have you here, and let’s go have some fun.”
After the speech, the marching band and Spirit Squad performed UCLA’s fight songs as the basketball team led all of the kids under a wide arch of blue and gold balloons to kick off the event.
The walk lasted for about 45 minutes. Kids dribbled around Drake Stadium, out along Sunset Boulevard and through the UCLA campus, eventually winding back to Pauley Pavilion.
Basketball players signed autographs and took pictures after the walk.
Kids gathered around the players in large groups. All waited for a chance to meet their role models. One father said to his son that he should “take a picture with your future teammate.” The boy smiled.
“I was happy to do (Dribble for the Cure), and I feel like I’ve made a lot of kids happy by signing autographs,” freshman center J’Mison Morgan said.
Players expressed enthusiasm for being able to bring attention to the event.
“I came out here today to help raise awareness for less fortunate kids. A lot of people look up to us and we want to help raise money,” freshman point guard Malcom Lee said.
The idea for holding Dribble for the Cure at UCLA came from Vallely, a former basketball guard who helped lead the Bruins to two national titles in 1969 and 1970 under coach John Wooden.
Vallely said he was inspired to raise awareness for pediatric cancer when his daughter, Erin, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of nine and lost her battle to the disease three years later.
“I’ve seen what sort of pain and suffering takes place with these children who are diagnosed with cancer,” Vallely said. “We’re all in this together, and we are going to make a difference for these young people who are affected by this disease.”
Vallely brought Dribble for the Cure to UCLA from USC, which has hosted the event for the past three years.
“I thought, I am a perfect conduit to the UCLA basketball legacy and the ability to raise money on the Bruin campus. So I just took the ball and kept dribbling it toward UCLA,” Vallely said.
Parents registered their kids for the walk for $10 each. Additional money was raised through corporate and individual donors as well as through live auction items.
Proceeds will be donated to the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation and the Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA.