Rock Hill cops, firefighters score in fight against cancer

In nearly every city or town, there’s some degree of rivalry between police and fire departments.

In Rock Hill – where police officers and firefighters playfully call each other “hose-draggers” and “doughnut-eaters” – the two departments faced off in a soccer match Saturday to use their rivalry to fight a common enemy: cancer.

Rock Hill Police officers were the victors in a 2-1 defensive battle with the Rock Hill Fire Department at Winthrop University’s Eagle Field.

The police vs. fire department match was held between the Winthrop men’s and women’s home games Saturday afternoon. All proceeds from the $5 ticket sales went to the Carolinas’ Kickin’ It Challenge, which focuses on raising money for the fight against breast cancer. Last year, the organization debuted with a youth soccer tournament in Rock Hill to raise money.

Winthrop men’s soccer coach Rich Posipanko got the idea for Saturday’s matchup after seeing the Charlotte police and fire departments face off at a Charlotte Independence game earlier this year.

“It was a pretty entertaining game,” Posipanko said. He pitched the idea to the Rock Hill police and fire chiefs.

The two agencies made a wager on the game, deciding that the losing department’s chief would hand-wash – in uniform – a patrol vehicle from the winning agency in front of the department’s headquarters on Monday.

Tim Ayers, a Rock Hill Police lieutenant who served as his team’s captain, said the event will be dubbed “The Guns and Hoses Challenge” in the future.

“It was an event to bring us together with the community ... and to do something for a worthy cause,” he said. “Anytime we can to do something for breast cancer, being able to help out and step in with Coach P and his strong feelings behind this charity, we’re happy to be a part of it.”

Chris Channell, a battalion chief, served as captain for the fire department’s team. He’s had some experience before, coaching his kids’ youth league teams in Rock Hill. Channell said he was overwhelmed by the number of firefighters who wanted to participate this weekend.

The team practiced once or twice a week for six weeks at Manchester Meadows soccer fields.

For Channell, whose daughter was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at age 9 and is now a four-year survivor, Saturday’s matchup was about taking his best shot at cancer rather than the opposing team.

Because of the good working relationship the two agencies have, Channell said, they’re able to take jabs at each other. Sometimes fire personnel text the cops when the “Hot Now” sign is on at Krispy Kreme.

“When we get on a call, we know they’ve got our backs and they know we’ve got their backs,” he said. “We’re very fortunate in our city to have that, because some places aren’t like that.”

Each team’s jerseys were funded by a sponsorship from Rock Hill’s Sub Station II. Posipanko said he would like to make the matchup an annual event and get more sponsors.

Besides ticket sales Saturday, t-shirt sales raised money for cancer research. Each department had shirts made for the event in their respective colors, with pink ribbons on them. Shirts can be purchased by calling the fire department at 803-329-7220 or the police department at 803-329-5583.

This story was originally published October 17, 2015 at 8:08 PM with the headline "Rock Hill cops, firefighters score in fight against cancer."