CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — At Western Albemarle High School this weekend, 10 high school girls’ basketball teams will play for more than just a win when they participate in the ninth annual Play for Preemies Showcase.

The event, organized by Western Albemarle coach Kris Wright, aims to raise funds and spread awareness for the works being done in the neonatal intensive care units at UVA Children’s Hospital in Charlottesville and Carilion Clinic Children’s Hospital in Roanoke, with proceeds for the events going toward both hospitals. The event has raised $48,267 over the past eight years.

The showcase is intensely personal for Wright, whose family had two different pregnancies result in premature births for two separate reasons. As a result, they spent approximately 20 total weeks in the NICU at two separate hospitals, first Carilion, then UVA.

“We’ve seen the NICU nurses and the NICU doctors up close, doing what they do for an extended stretch of time,” Wright told Cville Right Now, “and being that they helped us so much in getting our children home to us and that we have a community platform because of the basketball program, we wanted to raise awareness and money for the support of all the work that they do.”

Wright’s players, including seniors Ellie Klaff-Laymon and Addy Hux, know how much this event means to him and his family. Klaff-Laymon and Hux have both been involved in the event since they joined Western Albemarle’s junior varsity team in eighth grade, five years ago. Wright and his family frequently host the team at their house for dinners, and his kids are fixtures at practices.

“We’re just kind of a part of his family,” Hux told Cville Right Now, “so I think it’s nice to reciprocate that back to him with playing for something important to him.”

The event also carries a special connection for Kathryn Dollins, a former player of Wright who is now a NICU nurse at UVA. Dollins told Cville Right Now she has known Wright since she was five, and played for him during his wife’s first pregnancy. That experience was what inspired Dollins, who had always wanted to be a nurse, to specifically pursue neonatal care.

“Even though I experienced nothing compared to what they experienced, but going through that as a young teenager, it just like felt like I needed to try to then go help other people,” Dollins said

For years afterward, Dollins joined the Wrights in the March of Dimes, before Kris eventually decided to do his own event, starting with just one benefit game, which Wright called “a trial run,” before officially launching the showcase the following year with three games. It has since ballooned to five or six depending on the year.

Wright said most local teams have participated in the event, with Western Albemarle and William Monroe playing each year and the Warriors’ fellow Jefferson District teams rotating through. This year, the local participants are Albemarle, Orange and Fluvanna.

Despite playing in the neighboring Valley District, William Monroe has made the showcase an annual tradition, with head coach Carrie Woods telling Cville Right Now the event has become a part of her program’s values and identity.

“It’s just an honor for us,” she said, “and this is a game that, the ball stops bouncing one day, but we always need people willing to give up their time and skills. So, for us, this is how we get to do it to help somebody else.”

The five local teams each face another team from around Virginia, with at least one school from Roanoke to represent Carilion. This year there are two, Northside and Patrick Henry, while Luray, GW Danville and Hanover round out the lineup. The first game between Northside and Fluvanna will tip off at noon, and the fifth and final game between Albemarle and Hanover will tip off at 7 p.m.

While not playing in their respective game, players and coaches will also get to hear from either Wright or a NICU nurse on what it is like in a NICU unit. Dollins also sets up a table that features medical devices used to treat premature babies in the NICU unit as well as the clothing they wear, with clothing intended for full-term babies available for comparison.

“It just really put it into perspective the gravity of the situation,” Klaff-Laymon said, “and all of the work that those nurses do, and it just really shows me like how incredible it is that they do this work.”

Thanks in part to what Wright called “really incredible” support from the local schools and coaches, he said the atmosphere for the event has always been very positive, while still competitive.

“I think it’s really eye-opening for the players that participate,” he said, “and gives them kind of bigger picture goals that, ‘Hey listen, we’re playing a high school sport, and we want to be great for our school, but we can also do things that rally the community while we do that.'”

Dollins echoed Wright’s sentiment, adding that the showcase not only helps raise funds, but also spreads awareness of what really goes on inside NICU units every day, as she said a lot of people don’t know about premature babies or that NICU units serve babies in a range of ages.

“I really just try to educate as much as I can,” she said, “especially the young girls who are playing, because when you’re a teenager and you’re on the basketball team, you’re going to play a tournament, and sometimes it’s hard to see past that. So, I really just try to explain to them that this is more than just a game, like you guys are making a difference.”

Those interested in attending or donating can purchase a virtual ticket to the event. Donations can only be made online. Wright also encouraged those interested in supporting the event to simply spread the word when they can.