This past weekend I had the priviledge of attending The 8th Annual Nicholas Colleluori Classic. A total of 14 teams participated in the two day event. Some of the top Division 1 Schools attended the event. Syracue, Bellarmine, Binghamton, Monmouth, Hartford and Hofstra highlighted day one.
But what seemed to make this extra special this year was the venue of the event. The site, Ridley Senior High School in Folsom, Pa. This is were Nick played football and lacrosse for the Green Raiders, so to have it in his own backyard made it special. Nick lost his battle with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma back on November 27, 2006. The forcast called for heavy rain in the morning and not letting up til sometime in the afternoon, but when the clock struck 10, the rains stopped as if Nick just turned it off.
During the next couple hours a passing drizzle came down on and off as to not spoil the day. As far as the games went, there was plenty of action as the teams got some stick time in, coaches had the chance to evaluate the incoming freshmen, and work on some things for the upcoming season. Syracuse dominated in their two games by defeating Bellarmine 14-5, and Binghamton 13-6. Hofstra defeated Binghamton 9-6 and defeated Hartford (no score given) Monmouth defeated Bellarmine 7-1 and tied Hartford.
This was more then just lacrosse. This was about raising money to find a cure and to help patients with this deadly disease. One person who has benefited from Nicks mission is Syracuse junior Kathrine Frega. Katherine has been fighting Hodgkins Lymphoma for five years, and during her halftime speech she announced she is cancer free and told the crowd and the players how far she has come. Spectators, players, officials, etc.. were all moved by her speech. Katherine has started to play lacrosse again at the club level at Syracuse, and is a Pre-Med major.
Another touching moment was when 12 year old Thomas was introduced by HEADstrong president Cheryl Collelouri. Thomas is a cancer survivor, and is in remission. He still receives daily tablets and monthly chemo. Thomas was presented a check by the HEADstrong Foundation to help pay his medical costs and was also given the Nicholas Collelouri Award. The award is given to a player/person from each participating team. The award is presented annually to a players whose contributions both on and off the field are transforming the landscape of their represented program.
List of Day 1 recipients
Syracuse- Senior midfielder Nicky Galasso
Hartford- Senior defenseman Brian Monks
Binghamton- Junior midfielder TJ DiSanto
Monmouth- Sophomore midfielder Zach Schleicher
Hofstra- Junior midfielder Ryan Rielly
Bellarmine- Junior defenseman Chris Cousins
The event hit home for a number of people in attendance, especially Monmouth Head Coach Brian Fisher. Fisher is a 1997 Ridley High graduate, it obviously hit home for Hofstra University as this is were Nick played his college lacrosse.
The HEADstrong Foundation will be at The University of Penn on October 25 for the University City Classic (Drexel, Penn, John Hopkins) and at Franklin Field as four womens teams will take part as well.
For more information on HEADstrong and Nicks story and their mission please go to
www.headstrong.org
LIKE them on FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/HEADstrongFoundation
