Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fl. – The Florida men's golf team officially welcomed their newest teammate, Theo Kelly, at a Tuesday afternoon ceremony at Mark Bostick Golf Course.
 
Theo and his mom, Chase, come to Gainesville from Jacksonville frequently for Theo's treatments. He was diagnosed with optic nerve glioma in 2018. Today's trip was extra special as he signed his national letter of intent in front of his mom, Team IMPACT, Golf Fights Cancer, and the UF men's golf team.
 
"[This moment] is amazing. We've been talking about it for a long time. The idea started with a really close friend of mine, Pete Fox, who suffered a 15-year battle with cancer. One of the things he wanted to do before he left was to find a way to reach kids. Theo is seven-year old who has already battled cancer and a brain tumor – that's actual difficulty and toughness in life. My hope is that the team really runs with this and wants to give back to make a difference in the future. Who knows what great things are going to come out of it, but it's been awesome so far," Florida Head Coach JC Deacon said. "Theo's an awesome little kid who loves golf already so it's a really great start to our partnership."
 
 

 
 
"We are excited to have Theo as a part of our team. We spend a lot of hours back on the range, grinding and sweating and working hard. I've never had as much fun on the range as we did the last time Theo visited. We were all laughing as we tried to teach Theo how to swing a club," Florida senior Gordon Neale said. "He brought a joy to us that I haven't experienced since joining this team. I just hope we can do as much for Theo as he's done for us in this short time."

 

 
Team IMPACT is a national nonprofit headquartered in Boston, Mass., that connects children facing serious or chronic illnesses with college athletic teams, forming life-long bonds and life-changing outcomes. Since 2011, Team IMPACT has matched more than 1,700 children with more than 500 colleges and universities in 49 states, reaching over 50,000 participating student-athletes. The child joins the athletic team and the student-athletes join the child's support team. Throughout the journey, the child gains strength, camaraderie and support while the student-athletes experience lessons of courage, resiliency and perspective they can't learn in a classroom.
 
Team IMPACT has more than 1,000 teams waiting to be matched with children, ages 5-16, who have been diagnosed with a serious or chronic illness and who could benefit from becoming a member of the team. If you know a child who may be interested, visit www.goteamimpact.org for more information.
 
Golf Fights Cancer (www.golffightscancer.org) is a non-profit organization that taps into the collective fundraising power of the entire golf community to raise funds for cancer related organizations and families living with the disease.  Specifically, GFC makes targeted donations for equipment, services, and/or amenities that make an immediate positive impact on treatment and the experience for both the patient and family. Founded in 2003, GFC has raised more than $7 million to address unmet needs in the fight against cancer.