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Kicks Against Breast Cancer still going strong in year 12

11 Apr, 2008

By: Charles Boehm - Potomac Soccer Wire Staff Writer

As you might expect for a warm April Saturday, the Maryland SoccerPlex will be a hive of activity tomorrow as it plays host to 15 of the top women’s soccer squads in the nation.
 
But this is no ordinary competition. It’s the Kicks Against Breast Cancer tournament, an event that began 12 years ago as a labor of love in the wake of one woman’s unsuccessful fight against the deadly affliction and has since grown into one of the mid-Atlantic soccer community’s most well-loved causes.
 
Over the years KABC has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the fight against cancer, spread priceless awareness among thousands of players and their families and even inspired a similar event in California as Stanford University took the idea back west after participating in the tourney.
 
Louise Waxler, the Director of Soccer Programs for the Maryland Soccer Foundation and a past president of the National Soccer Coaches’ Association of America, hatched the idea as an outlet for her grief after losing close friend Claudia Mayer to breast cancer in the fall of 1996.
 
“It was a way for me to try to give back with what I did best, and that was my involvement in tournament and event management, and being involved with soccer for so many years,” says Waxler of the event, which debuted with four college teams in April 1997. “So I was trying to find a way and this seemed to fill the void for me.”
 
KABC soon became a prime feature of the region’s spring calendar as the interest and ambitions of its participants grew. Coaches and players could count on top-level competition to bolster their spring workouts while simultaneously raising funds for an important cause, with all participating teams tasked to raise at least $1,000 in donations.
 
“We challenge those kids to go out into their community and make a difference,” says Waxler. “It amazes me that every year, these kids go out and they continue to raise money. We’ve had so many colleges that have played, and at some point it turned into a competition amongst the teams. Our record right now is over $14,000 – that was raised by the Ohio State womens’ team. So these kids never show up with [just] $1,000: they always hand us envelopes full of money. It’s incredible.”
 
In 1998 the cancer center at Howard County General Hospital in Columbia, Md. was named in Mayer’s honor, and over the years the tournament has raised some $600,000 towards the center’s operating costs. The Claudia Mayer Cancer Resource Center provides an array of services to help cancer patients cope with the many burdens they face, with the proceeds from the KABC tournament playing a pivotal role.
 
“It’s not a very large facility,” says Waxler, “and what’s amazing is that it really helps with not just breast cancer patients, but all patients. All cancer patients have the ability, because of the funds we raise, to get the care they need, whether it’s prosthesis or wigs or counseling. We help operate that center: we’re a vital part of that daily operation, of helping so many people. That’s what’s so rewarding about it, that the soccer community is making the difference.”
 
This year’s event holds a special significance, as several well-known figures in local soccer have recently been stricken by cancer: Robin Miller, administrator for Washington Area Girls Soccer (WAGS) and Charlotte Moran, longtime administrator for Region 1 of the Olympic Development Program (ODP). And in a sad reminder of the tournament’s longevity – and necessity – last year former U.S. Naval Academy standout Christine Weeks became the first KABC alumna to be diagnosed with breast cancer.
 
KABC 2008 also marks the debut of the “Soccer Mom Camp,” a midday clinic for soccer lovers of all ability levels which will be run by Bill Stara, Maryland youth soccer’s Director of Coaching, and assisted by Navy coach and former U.S. National team hero Carin Gabarra.
 
Participants in both the tournament and the clinic will also learn important facts about the deadly disease itself. Education and awareness are crucial components of the day’s events, given that the mid-Atlantic region has one of the highest incidences of breast cancer in the country.
 
“We’d like to think that at the end of every tournament, we send away a couple hundred ambassadors for breast cancer, and help our athletes become aware of their own health issues that they need to be in touch with,” says Waxler. “You know, it could happen to them.”
 
This year’s tournament field features a distinguished list of regional and national powers, including George Mason, Navy, Penn State, and Georgetown along with several leading youth club sides. Local fans can also get a glimpse of the new-look Washington Freedom, once the class of WUSA and now looking forward to the 2009 debut of Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), the WUSA’s successor.
 
The Freedom – who will call the SoccerPlex home when WPS kicks off next spring – will take on Penn State in Saturday’s showcase match at 6 pm. A $10 ticket will give spectators access to an entire day of soccer, with matches kicking off at 10 am and concluding with the showcase event in the SoccerPlex stadium.

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Charles Boehm has covered D.C. United and the rest of the Washington-area soccer world for more than three years. A native of Dallas, Texas, Charlie made D.C. his home following a hard-working -- but hardly spectacular -- NCAA Division III college career and subsequent Peace Corps stint in the small, soccer-crazed, island nation of Grenada, where he also coached and played in the Grenadian Premier League (such as it is). He is excited to join Potomac Soccer Wire and welcomes feedback at cboehm@potomacsoccerwire.com.

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