In an effort to support the families of slain Tampa police officers, David Curtis and Jeffrey Kocab, the Tampa-based mixed martial arts promotion, Xtreme Fighting Championships, has entered an XFC team in the charity dodge ball tournament to take place July 31 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla.
Curtis and Kocab were shot and killed during a routine traffic stop June 29. Curtis left behind a wife and four children while Kocab's wife gave birth to their first child only hours after his passing.
The tournament currently includes 64 teams and is hosted by Clear Channel Radio of Tampa, Tampa Bay Storm, and the St. Pete Times Forum with the goal to raise funds through ticket sales (game against The Orlando Predators to take place July 31) with 50 percent being donated to a fund for the fallen officers' families.
While the dodge ball tournament is free and open to the public from 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. there will also be a raffle with proceeds going to the Curtis/Kocab Memorial Fund. Any other donations will be accepted as well, but are not mandatory.
The XFC dodgeball team consists of MMA fighters as well as XFC employees and will be the only team representing the MMA community in Tampa.
This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2010.