Beth Shumate, Star Local Media contributor | Posted: Tuesday, April 22, 2014 7:45 pm
Hundreds of youth baseball teams will travel with their families to McKinney the first weekend in May for the fourth annual Strikes Against Cancer tournament.
Tournament games will once again fill the baseball facilities around McKinney as well as in Celina, Little Elm, Allen, Plano, The Colony and Mesquite from May 2-4.
The charity tournament started in 2011 with just under 200 teams, growing to 248 teams in 2012 and more than 380 teams in 2013. This year, the Strikes Against Cancer organization hopes to have more than 400 teams participate in the weekend tournament.
The 2014 Strikes Against Cancer select youth baseball tournament, the organization’s largest fundraising effort, kicks off at 10 a.m. May 3 with a Balloon Launch Dedication event at Gabe Nesbitt 5-Plex, 7001 W. Eldorado Parkway in McKinney.
The Austin College baseball team will attend the event and Strikes Against Cancer Founder Geordon Cox, now a high school pitcher, will be on-hand to meet and inspire 7U and 8U pitchers of the future.
McKinney’s 97.5 KLAK-FM will broadcast live from the event. Guests are encouraged to dedicate an “I Throw Strikes For” balloon to someone in their lives who’s been touched by cancer.
Other ways to help Strikes Against Cancer in its mission to fund cancer research is to make donations, dedications and tributes on the organization’s website, http://StrikesAgainstCancer.org/" target="_blank">StrikesAgainstCancer.org. The organization also has specially designed apparel available on its site and at tournament field sites.
Strikes Against Cancer is the brainchild of 14-year-old Geordon, a 2010 Christmas gift to his mom, Lisa, who loved to watch her son pitch and who at the time was battling endometrial and cervical cancer. Geordon and his father, Adam, decided to accept pledges from friends and family for every strike Geordon threw in his 2011 season.
The money raised was then donated toward cancer research and awareness. His coach and team collectively decided to turn this fundraising idea into a full-fledged fundraising effort, which became Strikes Against Cancer.
“I just want to throw strikes for every mom fighting cancer,” Geordon said about his idea.
Geordon and Adam lost Lisa to the disease in late 2012, just a month before they presented checks for more than $40,000 to the American Cancer Society and the V-Foundation, all earmarked for cancer research. Proceeds from this year’s tournament will again go to the V-Foundation for Cancer Research.
According to Cox, each year’s tournament is truly a community effort.
“This event could not have happened without the support from the Mayor’s Office, McKinney’s City Council, the McKinney Convention & Visitors Bureau, McKinney’s parks department and the McKinney Chamber of Commerce, all who continue to support and promote the tournament and our organization each year,” Cox said. “The McKinney Community Development Corporation also generously awarded grants to Strikes Against Cancer in 2013 and 2014 that enable us to hold our tournaments and raise funds for cancer research.”
The Strikes Against Cancer Foundation is a registered 501c nonprofit organization with a volunteer board of directors who receive no compensation. Since the organization was founded, Geordon and Strikes Against Cancer have earned the following achievements:
• Geordon was named Fox-Sports Chevy Hometown Kid of the Week.
• 2013: McKinney Convention and Visitors Tourism Partner of the Year
• 2013: Rep. Scott Sanford recognized Geordon in front of the U.S. House of Representatives to a standing ovation for his contributions to cancer research.
• 2013: Geordon served as Sen. Ken Paxton’s Senate Page on the House Floor.
• 2011: McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller’s proclamation of "Strikes Against Cancer Weekend" the First Weekend of every May for Geordon Cox to honor his mother’s battle against cancer.