Locals will attempt to combat a rare disease this weekend with life-size foosball.
To help fund research for X-chromosome deletion, a disorder that can cause autism-like symptoms in young girls, Gainesville Human Foosball will host a tournament Sunday at Santa Fe College.
The money raised will go to Xtraordinary Joy, a foundation started this year by two UF employees whose 2-year-old daughter has the disorder.
There are currently only 10 known cases of the disorder in the world, said Amy Meacham, the girl’s mother and a UF research scientist studying leukemia.
The foundation will then donate the money to UF’s College of Medicine so researchers can begin to study the disorder, Meacham said.
“This helps bring change to the world, even though it’s a very small corner of the world,” said Rick Thompson, who will play Sunday. “This is the ground floor of what could be breaking research that brings change to people.”
The tournament, which will feature food vendors, will run from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Santa Fe’s track.
Individual admission tickets can be bought at humanfoosball.org/tickets for $30, or teams of seven players can register for $175 altogether.
Dan Dias, the founder of Gainesville Human Foosball, explained the sport in simple terms: It’s like soccer, but it’s played inside a square enclosure with large bars crossing through. The goal is to score the soccer ball into the opponent’s goal, he said.
“Imagine a foosball table,” Dias said, “and now imagine that you are one of the little dudes.”
Gainesville Human Foosball has held six fundraising tournaments before, he said. After hearing about the Meacham family, he decided to turn his attention to raising money for X-chromosome deletion.
Meacham said the support from her community has made dealing with her daughter’s illness easier.
“There are so many times during the day where we just want to go back to our normal lives,” Meacham said. “But community involvement is really what helps us and keeps us accountable going forward.”
