Battle of the Badges

First responders are no strangers to putting their bodies on the line in the name of public safety.

Marco "Revenge and Redemption" Rico of the Travis County Sheriff's Office, the first K.O. victim of the night.
See photo gallery. (photo by john anderson)

Friday night, at the second annual Travis County Battle of the Badges, representatives from a slew of agencies, including the Austin Police Department, the Travis County Sheriff's Office, and the Austin Fire Department, put their bodies in the ring to duke it out for a good cause, with all proceeds going to nonprofit Partnerships for Children. Battle of the Badges travels around the country putting on these events, but apparently Austin stands out from the crowd.

“I had never seen a nose explode – before the last time we were in Austin,” bragged the emcee.

photo by john anderson

Partnerships for Children is a local nonprofit aimed at giving CPS caseworkers the resources they need to do their jobs. While Texas argues with the federal government about the deplorable state of its foster care system, programs like Partnerships help kids with basic needs like beds and intangibles like mentoring. Last year, the organization’s volunteers worked 8,500 hours.

The friendly rivalry between law enforcement (the Blue Team, naturally) and fire departments (the Red Team, of course), escalated from the trash talk throughout the evening. The Red Team dominated the first installment last year, and though the Blue Team talked a big game about revenge, in most cases they were still extremely outmatched physically. Still – anyone without gloves making donut jokes did so at their own risk.

Vanessa Schaefer from the Austin Fire Department won her bout – the first of 17 – handily, but three rounds took their toll. How was she feeling? “Like I got hit in the head a lot,” she joked.

photo by john anderson

She’s been training for the event since April 2015, three days a week, for one hour a day. “It’s the perfect combination because it’s a challenge that you put on yourself,” Schaefer said. “It’s rewarding physically and competitively, but it’s also for charity. A lot of people put in a lot of work. It’s very fulfilling.”

“Are you bleeding?” interrupted an event staffer, pointing to Schaefer’s wrapped hand.

“Yeah – it’s alright,” Schaefer said nonchalantly. “I figured I was.”

After losing his match, Andrew Cavendish (Travis County Sheriff’s Office) said he’d consider training again for next year – and “stay committed to keep getting hit in the head.” The fact that he can raise money for charity while being active appeals to him. Not only that, but it brings together a coalition of first responders that normally wouldn’t mingle.

“As law enforcement, we see each other all the time,” said Cavendish. “EMS and Fire, I don’t really see a lot.”