The Red and White Soccer Classic, a five-on-five charity soccer tournament, will host its third annual tournament on Saturday March 16 at 10 a.m. on the Lower Intramural Field. All proceeds of the event will benefit The V Foundation to fund cancer research. 

Kelly Cox, the tournament’s director, said she identified five-on-five tournaments as a means of raising money for charity when she played in them in South Florida.

The cause the Red and White Classic benefits takes on a personal meaning for Cox. She lost her father to cancer her freshman year, the year prior to her establishing the tournament.

“It’s near and dear to my heart, so that’s where we wanted to go as our philosophic mission for the tournament,” Cox said. 

Cox also said donating to the foundation is fitting because of its close relationship to N.C. State and its late men’s basketball head coach, Jim Valvano 

In its third year, the event has garnered sponsors such as N.C. State’s math department and the pre-health club.

The tournament is broken up into two divisions, co-ed and men’s. It is open to all N.C. State students, faculty and staff. Cox said this year’s event should break the mark of 100 participants.

“We’re just really widely supported. The tournament tends to grow every single year. This year we’re looking at figures of around 120 to125 [participants] for the tournament, which is going to be great,” Cox said.

Participants can register online at www.redandwhitesoccerclassic.com either as a team or individually. Teams may have up to eight players on a roster. An individual would register as a free agent to be picked up by other teams. The registration fee is $12 and all participants will receive a t-shirt. 

“We’re really excited about the fact that we can raise money for such a good cause, but also engage the N.C. State community in a healthy lifestyle,” Cox said.