Support for the Mt. Ararat field lines the stadium fence. Cooper Sullivan/The Times Record
TOPSHAM — The Mt. Ararat field hockey play day on Saturday will provide teams an opportunity to tune up for the regular season next week. But the games on the field are hardly the most important part of the day.
This weekend marks the program’s 10th annual Drive Out Cancer Field Hockey tournament, which will benefit the Maine Children’s Cancer Program. Mt. Ararat coach Krista Chase calls the event “the heart of our program.”
When Chase first arrived as head coach, a scrimmage between Mt. Ararat and Morse was already established. After making a few phone calls to other coaches, the event has since evolved into an eight-school round robin. Brunswick, Lincoln Academy, Lisbon, Oak Hill, Greely and Lewiston will also participate on Saturday.
Teams will play between 20-minute matches from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with an intermission at 11:45 a.m. for a student presentation and tribute to those impacted by cancer.
“We’ve been doing this for a decade and it just feels more important than ever,” Mt. Ararat senior captain Lydia Hiltz said. “Cancer impacts so many people, you usually know someone who has it and I just love this fundraiser so much.”
Speakers include mother-daughter “super-duo” Bridget Murphy and Adelynn Moody from Harpswell; Oak Hill assistant coach Abby Fuller; and Chase’s brother, Seth Meyer, a tennis coach from Camden, who is “days into remission” after battling stage 4 lymphoma.
Moody is in remission after a long battle with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and a member of the Mt. Ararat Middle School field hockey team. Fuller will share her story as a former goalie diagnosed with cancer during her playing days.
“It’s just a meaningful day,” Chase said. “A good way to raise money for Maine Children’s Cancer Program, good field hockey, good team bonding, and really just a good representation that we are all passionate about sports, but sports are not the most important thing in our life. Our community and our fellow human kind is.”
As of 2 p.m. Thursday, the fundraiser is almost 85% at its $5,000 goal- just $755 short. Donations can be made online at p2p.onecause.com/driveout24 or in person on Saturday. All admission and concessions fees will be donated as well.
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