Soccer teams unite for pediatric brain tumor research

News 12's Katarina Belales was at the event which honors Casey Taub, a passionate soccer player who lost his life to brain cancer at 16.

Katerina Belales

Sep 2, 2024, 3:29 PM

Updated 31 days ago

Share:

High school soccer players from all over Westchester County took the field at Horace Greeley High School this morning, facing off against each other in support of pediatric brain tumor research.
It's all in honor of Casey Taub, who lost his life to the disease at age 16 seven years ago.
"I vowed after that happened to do everything possible to raise money to help other families who are going through the same thing with brain tumors," said Jonathan Taub, Casey's father and the Assistant Coach for the Horace Greeley Varsity Soccer Team.
Casey had a passion for playing soccer at Horace Greeley, thus sparking the creation of the Casey Taub Memorial Soccer Jamboree six years ago. None of the scores from the games played at the jamboree are kept. Instead, the main goal for the day is to enjoy the art of playing soccer and keep Casey's memory alive.
"This is a great way to start to play the game for the game's sake...and recognize that at the end, we're still just friends who play soccer," said Camp Schropshire, the head coach for the Horace Greeley High School Soccer Team.
The event has also expanded immensely - More high schools have joined in on the fun, and games for girls teams were added last year.
"[We're] able to spread Casey's love [and] memory to everybody now," said Esme Weiss, one of the Team Captains for the Girl's Soccer Team at Horace Greeley. Jonathan says he feels a sense of pride after seeing how the event has grown throughout the years.
"I'm very fortunate that I live in a town that's been amazingly supportive," he said. "My goal was to never let Casey sort of fade into the background; for people to know his name, even if they never knew him. I will continue to do that as long as I can."
Some may say that effort has been a success, with the community keeping Casey's memory alive in multiple ways.
"It's spreading to other sports too," said Stella Potenza, another Team Captain for the Girl's Soccer Team. "We do it for the lacrosse teams too, and the club's just growing."
"On our practice jerseys we wear his name all year long," added Ryder Goodman, one of the Team Captains for the Boy's Soccer Team. "So, although [we focus on] Casey Taub today, we're thinking about him year-round."
Anyone who wishes to donate can give to the Matthew Larson Foundation for Pediatric Brain Tumors.