Hawthorne High School’s SHARE club held its annual “Spike it for Sebastian” volleyball tournament on Thursday, February 28 at 6:00 p.m. in the school gym.

This year there were 19 teams playing in the tournament. It was required that each team had a minimum of six players. Each team was required to sign up with SHARE adviser, Christopher Ward, by February 26. There were several matches held at once in the big and small gyms. Teams were eliminated throughout the night until there was one winning team remaining. SHARE club members tallied and recorded the scores. The winning team consisted of Joe Frascella, David Masis, Jason McKeown, Kevin McKeown, Yazeed Atieh, and David Peralta.

Participant in the tournament and HHS student, Renee Buchanan, said, “As usual the volleyball tournament had a big turnout and everyone looked like they had a lot of fun.”

The “Spike it for Sebastian” volleyball tournament was created seven years ago in order to raise money for Sebastian Del’Duca young boy in Hawthorne. Sebastian suffered a traumatic brain injury when struck by a car while riding his tricycle. Sebastian’s siblings attended the high school at the time and spoke with the SHARE advisors about the financial burden of the accident. Since the creation of the tournament, “Spike it for Sebastian” has been held once or, sometimes, twice a year. This tournament helps to raise money for experimental therapy for Sebastian’s condition and also to remind Sebastian’s family that they still remain in the thoughts of HHS. Each year about $1,000 or more is raised for the cause.

When asked about the success of the tournament, Ward replied, “I would say the success of this is beyond the money raised but should include the fact that we are doing something for a child in our community.”