Shane Battier's 'Battioke' To Take Place At Ball & Chain On Calle Ocho
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – They call it "Battioke," a karaoke-themed charity event created by former Miami Heat player Shane Battier and his wife Heidi.
The event brings together some of South Florida's biggest sports superstars, past and present, to raise awareness and funds for the Shane Battier Take Charge Foundation.
"We award college scholarships to kids in three different cities – our main base is Miami. We have kids in Houston and Detroit where my wife and I are both from, and we also started a college counseling mentoring program in Miami-Dade schools," Battier told CBS4's Lisa Petrillo.
This will be the fifth year for Battioke and the first time at Ball and Chain on Calle Ocho.
In years past, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and all of Battier's former teammates took to the microphone, whether they could carry a tune or not.
"Yeah, a lot of terrible singing. There's nothing that brings people together more than bad karaoke. This is going to be a fun night," he said. "The one thing I will say about my former teammates – Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem, young Josh and Justin – what they lack in vocal talent, they makeup in panache. They have amazing stage presence which makes up for bad vocals."
These days Shane, who retired from the Heat three years ago, says he's enjoying being a suburban dad – picking up his kids in carpool daily and watching them grow up. He says it was his parents who inspired him to give back.
"My parents sacrificed so much to give me everything I had to reach my dreams. That made a huge impact in me. So, I take a huge pleasure to giving that opportunity to kids who need a little help. We're all in this together. This is our community we need to take care of each other. We need to help each other when we see people who need little bit of help," he said.
Up to now, Battioke has raised some $800,000 for the kids, with all proceeds going directly to the program. They're hoping this year will be better than ever and just as off key!
Battioke is on Thursday, September 22, at 7:30 p.m.
BALL & CHAIN
1513 SW 8TH STREET
MIAMI, FL 33135
For more info visit battioke.org.
