The athletic community is rallying around two Catholic high school athletes who are battling cancer.
Keeley Imel, a freshman at The Seton Keough High School, Baltimore, was diagnosed this summer with a medulla blastoma, a brain cancer, and has had surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. She is currently a patient at St. Jude’s Cancer Center for Children in Memphis, Tenn. Brandy Foehrkolb, a freshman at The Catholic High School of Baltimore, was diagnosed in September with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and is undergoing chemotherapy after two surgeries.
Both girls were involved in the Baltimore Bays club soccer program. Keeley also played club basketball and club lacrosse, and Brandy plays on Catholic High’s varsity soccer team.
On Nov. 20, local soccer teams will raise money for the two girls and honor them with a benefit competition at Harford Community College. Gates open at 5:30 p.m., and a senior boys’ match will be at 6:30 p.m. and women’s match will be held at 8 p.m. A total of 14 teams from Harford and Cecil counties will participate, including players from The John Carroll School in Bel Air. The event is the “Independently We Compete, United We Stand” fundraiser.
Admission is $5.
Gary Lynch, varsity soccer coach at John Carroll, said, “The biggest thing is that these women just know that people are supporting them.”
Donations can be made to the Adolescent Cancer Foundation, c/o John L. Lynch Agency, 11832 Belair Road, Kingsville, MD 21087.