"It is truly an honor to be named one of the top 12 shooters in the state and to participate in the first annual A Shot For Life Challenge," said Bohmiller. "I have to thank Mike [Slonina] and Brendan [Hall] for providing me the opportunity to play the game I love, but more importantly for providing me with an oppotunity to raise money to help save the lives of people I love. I'm really looking forward to the 3rd and I know the event is going to be a huge success."
The challenge was organized by 2011 Catholic Memorial graduate Mike Slonina, who created the A Shot For Life Foundation after learning that his mother was diagnosed with brain cancer. Although, gratefully, the diagnosis turned out to be incorrect, Slonina wanted to find a way to ensure that others did not have to suffer the hopelessness that he felt that day.
As team manager for the 2008 state championship CM basketball team and someone that would spend hours in the gym shooting jumpers, basketball seemed like the perfect outlet for his desire to give back. Slonina created the foundation and set a world record by shooting jump shots for 24 consecutive hours. The marathon event drew intense media coverage and helped raise nearly $30,000 for Mass General and Boston Children’s Hospital.
“I’m one of those people that, when something goes wrong, I feel like I have to do something,” he recently reflected. “The thing with cancer is that it makes you feel helpless and that’s what makes me so mad. I just wanted to give that hope back and show people that you can make a difference.”
Slonina’s basketball career ended in seventh grade due to an issue with his ankle that does not allow him to run without pain and swelling. In addition to the ankle problem, he injured his wrist only four hours into his shooting exhibition, but he persevered. It is that fierce determination, which has driven him to continue the foundation’s efforts and keeps his ambitions high for the “A Shot For Life Challenge.”
“I can tell you right now that next year is going to have a dunk contest,” he declared, during a break in a youth camp that he is helping run at his alma mater. “I want to be the Nike of non-profits.”
A Shot For Life has already run smaller events throughout the northeast and Slonina is hoping that the competitive aspect of the Challenge will help raise its profile and the profile of the foundation. He has high expectations for himself and for A Shot For Life and he hopes that his efforts will inspire others.
“That’s what everyone needs to grasp,” Slonina explained. “On a bigger scale, that’s what I was trying to do with the 24-hour thing. People kept saying, ‘But, you’re only one person.’ It only takes one person.”
The “A Shot For Life Challenge” will take place on Saturday, August 3 at the University Sports Complex in Hanover beginning at 1 p.m. The 11 shooters are:
Ben Judson, St. John’s Prep
Sam Bohmiller, Franklin
Tommy Mobley, Newton North
Nick McKenna, Danvers
Jake Foote, Duxbury
Ryan Roach, Cardinal Spellman
Vinny Clifford, Danvers
Scott Arsenault, Walpole
Mike Nelson, Bishop Feehan
Shiraz Mumtaz, Brookline
Tyler Gibson, Rockland.
To donate to A Shot For Life, visit http://www.gofundme.com/3dsw54.