CHAZY — The Chazy girls’ soccer team will host its second Mary Latremore Be The Match Fall Classic Tournament. The four-team invitational will be held Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, with Friday’s first game between Peru and Amsterdam at 5 p.m. while Chazy and Plattsburgh play at 7 p.m. A consolation and championship game will be played Saturday.
“This is going to be a very competitive tournament. It’s the beginning of the season and these are four really strong teams,” Chazy girls’ soccer coach Karin Sherman Trombley said.
While the tournament is important for the record books, this event is even more special to Sherman Trombley.
“Four years ago, my sister was diagnosed with severe Aplastic Anemia. At that time, there were no ambassadors for Be The Match in this area, so my mother and sister joined me as ambassadors,” Sherman Trombley said.
The event is dedicated to Mary Latremore, who passed away five years ago from Multiple Melanoma, a type of cancer. Latremore was raised in Chazy and served as an active member in the community.
“We had Mary’s granddaughters on the team. The Latremores have done a lot for this area and we wanted to help give something back,” Sherman Trombley said.
The tournament will benefit the Be The Match Registry, run by the National Marrow Donor Program. This program helps patients with leukemia and other life-threatening blood diseases receive the treatment needed by finding match donors for marrow transplants. Seventy percent of patients do not have a family donor and rely on outside donors.
During last year’s event, 33 potential donors signed up for the Be The Match Registry. That number is hoped to increase this year, Sherman Trombley said. This is the second event Sherman Trombley has volunteered at for Be The Match. She also volunteered in May for Plattsburgh State baseball’s Brian Mehan Be The Match game.
“We’re really all about giving back to the community,” Sherman Trombley said. “Even just being aware of this program is an important step to its success.”
In addition, free bone marrow kits will be distributed. The kits include a questionnaire and four oral swabs to collect saliva samples. Monetary donations are also being accepted for the Registry.
