Young golf sensation and cancer survivor Kyle Lograsso to receive Perseverance in Sport Award at third annual Charity Sports Auction April 8; auction website launched

Young golf sensation and cancer survivor Kyle Lograsso to receive Perseverance in Sport Award at third annual Charity Sports Auction April 8; auction website launchedMarch 11, 2008Kate Futrellkofutrel@syr.edu

Kyle Lograsso, a five-year-old cancer survivor from Philadelphia who has garnered national recognition and notoriety for his remarkable golf talent, will be presented with the Perseverance in Sport Award at the third annual Charity Sports Auction, presented by the Syracuse University Sport Management Club, on Tuesday, April 8, in the Carrier Dome.

The evening will also include SU trustee and member of the Syracuse All-Century Football Team Donovan McNabb, five-time NFL Pro Bowl quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, as the Jreck Subs Distinguished Lecture speaker. The lecture and award presentation begins at 6:30 p.m. and will be followed by a silent auction from 7:30-9:30 p.m. The award presentation, lecture and auction are open to the public.

At just 23 months, Lograsso took an interest in golf, asking to watch the game on television instead of popular children’s programming. His attention to golf was particularly remarkable because neither of his parents had ever played the sport. As he watched, Lograsso began to imitate players and their actions.

Shortly after his second birthday, Lograsso was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma, a form of eye cancer. After many tests, it was determined that his left eye had an intensive tumor and needed to be removed immediately. After successful surgery to remove the eye, Lograsso began chemotherapy at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to combat the four tumors on his right eye.

During chemotherapy, Lograsso developed sepsis, a serious infection of the blood stream that can be fatal. He stayed in the hospital for two weeks, receiving around the clock antibiotics, but was up and about putting golf balls around his hospital room by the last days of his stay.

Following his hospital stay, Lograsso continued to follow his passion, playing golf despite the loss of his eye, and received metal clubs as a present for his third birthday. Since then, he has developed what experts call “a perfect swing.” He often outplays adults on the golf course and — not surprisingly — is regularly compared to Tiger Woods, especially in observation of both’s remarkably similar swing mechanics. Lograsso and his golf skills have been featured in Golf Digest and on the “CBS Evening News” and “HBO Real Sports,” among other media attention.

Lograsso finished chemotherapy in December 2004 and has not suffered any reoccurrences of cancer. He sells bracelets to raise money for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Eye Tumor Research Foundation. For more information, visit http://www.kylelograsso.org.

The third annual Charity Sports Auction features hundreds of items, including sports memorabilia from professional and collegiate sports teams and players, as well as non-sports-related items including jewelry, electronics and event tickets.

A website has been established for the event and is now available at http://www.sucharitysportsauction.com, offering information about items up for bid in the silent auction, the athletes and coaches who will be on hand signing autographs, the event’s history, keynote speakers, schedule of activities for the evening and more.

Tickets for the event are $10 for adults and $5 for all students, 5 years of age and up. (SU students can use their SUpercard Plus accounts to purchase tickets.) Tickets can be purchased in person at the Carrier Dome Box Office or by calling 1 (888) DOMETIX (366-3849). A portion of the event’s proceeds will benefit the American Diabetes Association, as well as the Sport Management Club.

The SU Sport Management Club is a student-run organization of the Department of Sport Management in the College of Human Ecology. Since its founding in 2005, the club has grown to more than 100 members and raised more than $30,000 for local charities. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is the nation’s premier voluntary health organization supporting diabetes research, information and advocacy as well as local area programs and services for people with diabetes, their families and the public. Founded in 1940, the ADA has offices in every region of the country, providing services to hundreds of communities. Its mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. For more information, visit http://www.diabetes.org or call 1 (800) DIABETES (342-2382).