University law students sponsored the wish of a child with a life-threatening medical condition Saturday during the eighth annual Barristers Bowl, organized by the LSU Law Football Club in partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
More than 80 players from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center squared off in full pads for the full-contact, tackle football game at Memorial Stadium.
“We’ve been hitting the books all year. It’s time to hit each other,” said Dixon McMakin, the Bowl’s commissioner.
The two teams, Purple and Gold, consisted of players with varying degrees of experience. While some law students were returning to the familiar game, others were stepping foot on the field for the first time.
Law students Chris Ludeau and Jonathan Moore, commentators for the matchup, were quick to point out the rusty skills of some of their classmates, providing banter to the laid-back football game.
About 50 female law students participated as cheerleaders for the game and performed a halftime dance routine.
The Purple team overtook the Gold team, 9-7. Blaine Aydell of the Purple team was named MVP.
This year’s Barristers Bowl raised money to send Caleb, a Baton Rouge five-year-old suffering from leukemia, on his dream vacation to Disney World.
“It’s over the top. Unimaginable. I’m getting chill bumps just thinking about it all,” said Tanya Creed, Caleb’s mother.
The recipient of last year’s proceeds, five-year-old Dallas, was also recognized at Saturday’s game. Dallas was awarded the proceeds from 2011.
Dallas has a Wilms’ tumor, a rare kidney cancer. Her wish is to travel to Disney World as well.
“She is so happy. She really deserves this after what she has gone through,” said Nina Jones, Dallas’ grandmother.
The average cost of granting a child’s wish through the Make-A-Wish Foundation is $6,500. McMakin estimates the Bowl raised more than $8,500, exceeding its $7,000 goal.
“We wanted to inspire these children with our dedication, but instead they have inspired us,” McMakin said.
The law students raised money through donation stations set up in the stadium, T-shirt sales, a silent auction and a live auction at Bogie’s Bar after the game. Auction items ranged anywhere from a pot of jambalaya to a “pizza and Natty Light night” with the vice chancellor of the law school.
The LSU Law Football Club and the Bowl’s commissioner select the children they wish to sponsor. The Make-A-Wish Foundation provides them with a list of eligible children in the Baton Rouge area.
The selection process gives donors an opportunity to bring the event to a local level, said Jackie Heroman, development coordinator for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
“They are actually able to see the child and meet them, making it more meaningful,” Heroman said. “They see where their money is going, leaving no room for questions.”
Other law programs, including Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, Tulane University Law School and the University of Alabama’s School of Law, have contacted past commissioners and asked to play against the University in the Barristers Bowl, said Jonathan Hobbs, the Bowl’s commissioner from 2007 to 2008. But they have declined such offers and kept the game a rivalry to University law students.
 
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Contact Lea Ciskowski at [email protected]