Last week the boys and girls teams of South County teamed up to host Go4TheGoal Awareness Games to support pediatric cancer.
The South County basketball players wearing gold shoe laces in support for the cause Go 4 the Gold.
February 21, 2016 — Last week, the South County boys and girls basketball teams hosted a doubleheader against Annandale. However, this was no regular doubleheader for South County as they dedicated both games to Awareness for Go 4 the Gold.
Go 4 the Gold is an organization that helps families dealing with pediatric cancer pay for and manage the expensive hospital bills required for a child to go through treatment. Head Coach of the boys team, Travis Hess, knew of this situation firsthand.
Back on February 11th 2012, Hess’ daughter, Gianna, was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma, a form of pediatric cancer that targets a child’s liver and lungs. This diagnosis forced Hess to quit his job (was the head coach at Langley) in order to take care of his daughter and his family. Through a parent at Langley, the Hess family was introduced to Go 4 the Gold, which helped the costs tremendously for Gianna.
Four years later, Gianna is currently in remission from her cancer, but that has not stopped the Hess family from continuing to fight.
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Now at South County, Hess has organized a series of games with coaches around the DMV area to set up other awareness games. At these events, they sell gold laces, often worn by the players during the game as well as the ticketing sales going straight to the organization.
“It’s a pretty big game for us because of Coach Hess and his daughter and what they’ve been through,” said Chu Chu Enechionyia. “We just wanted to play our best and get a win for them.”
This cause was not just limited to the basketball programs though.
“It sort of became the cause of South County,” said Hess. “There was a senior at the school that had pediatric cancer and the whole school embraced the cause.”
Often a move seen at the collegiate and professional levels, the teams still insist on benefiting an incredible cause. In the long run, it does not only benefit the organization but the school and the athletes on the court.
“It means so much to them and it’s extremely important for us to show them what our priorities are,” said girls Head Coach Patrick Noel. “We’ve always told the girls that they won’t remember the games they played and the wins/losses but they will always remember their teammates, and the people that they’ve helped along the way. For us, it’s all about relationships and serving others, and they have fully bought into that idea.”
Both teams won for the Stallions on that night, the boys 74-70 and the girls 47-38. However, at the end of the night no one was worried about the score on the scoreboard but instead focused on a single moment four years ago to the day that changed the Hess family forever.