The fight to cure Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as ALS, has grown tremendously over the past few years. According to alsa.org, more than 5,600 people are diagnosed with ALS per year. ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, is an increasing neurological disease that affects the spinal cord and nerves that control muscle movement. Baseball player Lou Gehrig developed ALS during his career, making the disease well known to the public.

Pentucket Regional High School has joined the fight by raising money through the yearly ALS varsity soccer games played against Newburyport.

On Saturday, Oct. 1st, 2016, students gathered at Newburyport High School’s newly built sports stadium to watch both the boys and girls soccer teams compete for the ALS cup. Tickets were $5.00 ahead of time, and $8.00 dollars at the game, all of the proceeds going towards ALS research.

The annual ALS game has been played between the two schools since 2003, each year switching locations. Teachers, students, and the teams look forward to this event and hope to take home the trophy.

Last year, Pentucket boys varsity team defeated Newburyport 1-0, retaining the ALS cup for one more year. Jake Dickson scored the only goal with 27:00 minutes left in the game. The boys have had a successful season so far this year with a record of 5-3-2.

Earlier in the season, the girls had played Newburyport and lost 3-0: two of their senior players were injured at the start of the game. They were determined to fight back, maintaining possession most of the time. Unfortunately, they fell short 3-0 but they gave it their all in an incredible game.
Other ways that the community can help fight ALS is by participating in the ALS ice bucket challenge. This challenge is where one posts a video of him/herself pouring a bucket of ice water onto  him/herself. With every pour, money is donated towards ALS research. This challenge raised over $115 million dollars according to the NY Times. Join the fight to help cure ALS, every dollar counts.