The warm weather couldn’t prevent more than 200 kids, parents, college soccer players and supporters from blazing through the pristine Oso Trail for the Soccer for Hope Inspiration walk on Friday, August 21, 2015.
For 18 years, Soccer for Hope has been raising money and awareness for childhood cancer. This year the camp raised more than $25,000. The camp was held at the Mission Viejo World Cup Center (Potacki Center) in Mission Viejo.
In 1998, Oliver Wyss was treated at the City of Hope for Aplastic Anemia which included a bone marrow transplant. Aplastic anemia is a disorder in which the bone marrow fails to make enough blood cells. Jamie, his wife and girlfriend at the time was by his side. She was his caregiver.
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Oliver Wyss is a former professional soccer player, head coach at J Serra High School in San Juan Capistrano and coach of the Orange County Blues, a professional soccer team in OC.
Initially, Oliver and Jamie Wyss formed the foundation as a way to give back to those who saved Oliver’s life, however it wasn’t until five years later that they had kids and it became even more personal.
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Tragically, for the founders of Soccer for Hope, both of their young children Hudson and Abella were diagnosed with Choroid Plexus Carcinoma, a rare cancerous brain tumor. Hudson was 3 years old when he lost his battle to cancer and his sister, Abella was 11years old when she lost her life to cancer.
This week boys and girls ages 5 -14 years old participated in the Soccer For Hope Camp. Each day a different college men’s and women’s soccer team is coaching the kids. Some of the college teams participating are Loyola Marymount University, Cal State University Fullerton, UC Irvine, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal Poly Pomona. The kids not only learned valuable soccer skills they learned about cancer and bone marrow donations.
Oliver Wyss, “Cancer doesn’t discriminate because you are a kid, short or tall from the United States or Guam. When you know someone who has cancer try to be courteous and kind to them.”
Katie Cortes, a University California Irvine senior, shared information and helped people apply for the Bone Marrow Registry.
One in every 330 children will develop cancer before 19 years old. In fact, cancer is the number one cause of death in children, yet pediatric AIDS receives four times the funding. Did you know nearly 3,000 children and teenagers will die from cancer each year?
No parent should every have to hear that your child has cancer or ever lose a child to cancer. No kid should every have to endure the pain and suffering of cancer.
On October 24, 2015 Soccer For Hope will hold its 8th Annual Evening of Hope Gala at the Turnip Rose in Costa Mesa at 6 pm. For more information, to register, volunteer or donate, please call 949/716-7700 or go to their website www.soccerforhope.org.
