Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/12/15
From Press Release
The fall has always been a very significant time for the HEADstrong Foundation™. September 21, 2005 was the date that founder Nicholas Colleluori was diagnosed with an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and the HEADstrong journey began. September is also recognized as national leukemia and lymphoma awareness month as well as childhood cancer awareness month.
Colleluori was born on October 19th and lost his heroic battle on November 28th. Over the past 9 years HEADstrong has worked diligently, channeling many efforts to rally the lacrosse community in support for the cause and honor their founder during this special time of year. This fall, HEADstrong will be teaming up with college and high school lacrosse teams from all over the country in effort to strengthen their commitment to those fighting the disease through 8 special fundraising events.Image may be NSFW.
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The series of charity lacrosse events are focused on promoting cancer awareness, honoring those affected by the diseases and raising funds to support the essential programs and services for patients and their families by the organization.
HEADstrong Fall Event Schedule
9/20 – 2nd Annual Run The Park 5k and 1 Mile Fun Run – Ridley Park, PA
9/26 – 7th Annual Women’s Nicholas Colleluori Classic – Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
10/3-10/4 – 9th Annual Men’s Nicholas Colleluori Classic – Folsom, PA
10/10 – Nicholas Colleluori Classic, Long Island – Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
10/10 – 1st Annual Holy War for HEADstrong – Saint Joseph’s University – Philadelphia, PA
10/11 – Nicholas Colleluori Classic, Baltimore – Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
10/17 – 3rd Annual University City Classic (Men’s and Women’s) – University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
10/17-10/18 – 3rd Annual Faceoff Against Blood Cancer – The Blake School, Minneapolis, MN
Teams will have their first opportunity to come together on Sunday, September 20th as the organization hosts the 2nd Annual Run The Park 5K and 1 Mile Fun Run in Ridley Park, PA. Team building is at the heart of this great event and HEADstrong is encouraging coaches from the Mid-Atlantic region to rally their teams, lace up their running shoes and participate for the cause to kick off the start of their fall lacrosse season. Register To Run The Park.
On Saturday, September 26th HEADstrong will present the 7th Annual Women’s Nicholas Colleluori Classic at Hofstra University. The event will recognize those in the fight and will feature 15 collegiate women’s programs including: Adelphi University, Binghamton University, Central Connecticut State University, Hofstra University, Hofstra Alumni, Iona College, Le Moyne College, Long Island University Brooklyn, Long Island University Post, Manhattan College, New York Athletic Club, Siena College, Stony Brook University, UMASS Lowell and Wagner College, who will come together to face-off against cancer. Now in its 7th year the event has helped to more than $250,000 to support the cause.
In effort to broaden their reach and engage a wider audience HEADstrong decided to regionalize their signature event, the Nicholas Colleluori Classic. This year the organization will host (3) events in Philadelphia, Long Island and Baltimore. This year 12 DII, DIII and post collegiate teams will meet over the weekend of October 3-4 at Ridley High School in Folsom, PA to participate in the 9th Annual Nicholas Colleluori Classic.
The new regional expansion events will be held on Saturday, October 10th at Hofstra University featuring 4 D1 men’s teams including Dartmouth College, Hofstra University, Lafayette College and Lehigh University.
On Sunday, October 11th at Johns Hopkins University featuring another 4 D1 men’s teams including University of Albany, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University and University of Richmond. Embracing the ever shifting dynamics of fall lacrosse inspired the organization to create a more intimate format allowing for a more productive experience for participating teams while allowing for HEADstrong to rejuvenate, collaborate and maximize its reach in the biggest lacrosse markets in the country. Proceeds from the new events will allow HEADstrong to strengthen their commitment to adult and pediatric cancer initiatives in the markets. Since its inception this milestone event has helped raise more than $1,500,000 and HEADstrong is hopeful that the new format will allow the event to attract sponsorship and more localized support.
Also on Saturday, October 10th Saint Joseph’s University will host the 1st Annual Holy War for HEADstrong scrimmage versus Villanova University. The longtime Philadelphia basketball rivalry will jump into men’s lacrosse and the Hawks will take on the Wildcats in a fall brawl in support of the cause.
On Sunday, October 17th the 3rd Annual University City Classic™ will be held picturesque Penn Park on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday October 25, 2014. The event will feature 8 men’s and women’s collegiate programs in a round-robin style format including Boston University, Bucknell University, Drexel University, Mount St. Mary’s University, University of Delaware, University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University.
The event will be played in the shadows of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he fought his heroic battle against non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The UCC™ was a day of philanthropy, pairing the elements of a fall collegiate scrimmage with a day of service. HEADstrong will provide complimentary admission to patients and families receiving care at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
That same weekend high school teams in Minnesota will take the field to support families from the Upper Midwest affected by the disease at the 3rd Annual Faceoff Against Blood Cancer. The event will be held at The Blake School in Minneapolis, MN. This event will help advance the HEADstrong mission over 1,200 miles away from HEADstrong’s national headquarters in Holmes, PA.
HEADstrong’s fall fundraising event series will lead up to the kick-off of Lacrosse Mustache Madness, an annual facial hair growing fundraising campaign which will begin on October 19th.
“On behalf of the HEADstrong Foundation, the Colleluori family and our founder, Nicholas, we wish to extend our sincere appreciation to all of the teams, supporters and volunteers who will be part of our fundraising events this upcoming fall. This year we have introduced some incredible new events and are thrilled to be expanding and regionalizing existing ones. Bringing events to markets where we have supporters and are supporting families is our social obligation and great outreach for our cause. We hope that these new events will allow people to become more familiar with our organization and all of the great work that is being done in our Nick’s name. To date more than 12,000 families have benefitted from our relentless efforts and we want supporters to know that HEADstrong is leading the charge in helping change the game for those affected by cancer and We have challenged ourselves to create more athletic events so that we can continue to make an impact and further our presence in the cancer community and foster relationships with the national lacrosse community.” – Cheryl Colleluori, HEADstrong President and Nick’s Mom