Mya Strong Fundraiser set for this Weekend

Some of Mya Gilchrist’s best friends will be helping her raise money for her fellow cancer victims this weekend at Prospect Meadows. She’ll be making a lot of new friends this weekend as well.

Mya, an eighth grader in the Alburnett school district, has been fighting a brain tumor since she was just 18 months old. She’s undergone numerous treatments along the way and came up with the idea of a fundraising campaign to help other people with cancer, including people she does not know.

A big part of her family’s fundraising effort is the Mya Strong Girls Softball Tournament, which will be held at Prospect Meadows this weekend (Oct. 10-11).

Twenty-six teams are playing in the event, with 12 teams in the 12U bracket on Saturday and 14 clubs in the 14U tournament on Sunday. The entry fee is $250 and there will be a donation bucket at the front gate.

All proceeds will go to the Mya Strong Foundation to help families in need. None of the money will go the Gilchrist family as part of their outreach to the community. The first Mya Strong tournament was held last year. This year’s event was originally scheduled for August, but was postponed until now.

It’s a terrific event for a great cause. And the weather forecast is for warm, sunny skies to help bless the event.

In the past year, more than $10,000 has been donated from the foundation to the Camp Heart Connection, local oncology families, scholarships and the UIHC Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

Mya thinks the foundation and its efforts are outstanding and is delighted to help.

“I think it’s awesome, because I get to raise money for other people and give back to people who have helped me,” she remarked.

Mya is an enthusiastic softball player herself. She and her younger sister, Leia, play on the same team for the Alburnett Pirates.

Through all her trials and tribulations, Mya has maintained an extremely positive attitude and is determined to keep battling and keep moving forward. “Ten percent in life is what happens to you, and 90 percent is how you react,” has become her motto.

“It’s not about losing battles,” said. “It’s about winning.”

The 12U tournament on Saturday will have a combined bracket for “A” and “B” division teams and a separate bracket for “C” division teams. The same format will be followed for the 14U tournament on Sunday.

Several teams from Wisconsin are headed to Prospect Meadows to join a strong nucleus of local girls softball teams for this special event.