Love for Linley Cup 2024 Recap & Thank You

This year is only our second year running the tournament and it was a complete success thanks to YOU and all our players, coaches, volunteers, and families!

We are so very thankful for the overwhelming support of the Love for Linley Foundation and our mission to end DIPG/DMG and ease the burden on families affected by pediatric cancer. Love for Linley Cup registered an unbelievable 82 teams from U8 through adult and raised a total of $40,000 for Love for Linley Foundation, brain cancer research, programs, and family grants.

Thanks to our partners Oliver Ames Soccer, Easton Youth Soccer Association, and Elevate Soccer 1:1 training. And to our generous sponsors: The Peach Corner Store & Deli, CJW Custom Home Renovations, Norton Physical Therapy, Plumbers Supply Company, Easton Learning Adventures Preschool ELAP, Giannaros Family, LLEJ Equipment, Landerholm Electric, Halvorsen Orthodontics, B&L Pool Service Inc., Mal Cunha, and Seth Potkin. A big thank you to Rosemary Fresh's Meredith Bonny, Kona Ice's Jason Soares, Lindigo's Laurie Landerholm, Lady Sunshine Coffee for the delicious coffee, Southside Tees for tourney merch, and Royal Porta Johns for the clean potties. We loved having you be part of such a special day.

Our need for volunteers was huge this year as we are a 100% volunteer-run 501(c)(3) and all our events are staffed entirely by volunteers. From snack shack helpers, score runners, horn blowers, registration table, setup crew, to cleanup and so many more- thank you! Thank you photographers, for drinks and food donations, field liners, coordinators of mowing, gates opening, and trash removal helpers. Many thanks to our tournament nurse Heather Cote who never stops, never complains, and keeps everyone healthy and safe. Thanks to our amazing anthem singer Tilly Teravainen, Tracy Mazzuca for our tournament logo design and the original LFLF logo. To Mark Luke and the football team for the unexpected but much appreciated early morning heavy lifting help. And special thanks to those that went above and beyond like the Pohl, Powers, and Magee families (and more) and our two teams that raised over $4000 each in the donations challenge: Imagine Dragons U14 and Scorps HS. Thanks to the 20+ teams that took part in raising funds through our GiveButter campaign and to all the people who spread awareness by helping with little acts like sharing an instagram post or telling a friend about the tournament. Thanks to all my kids' coaches past and present and the many soccer parents we know for networking to help fill a team spot when needed.. even at the very last minute.

A huge shout out to all our volunteer referees. It's not always an easy job and we needed you more than ever this year as the event has grown. Refs as young as 11 and many who had never reffed a game before stepped up to help make our tournament possible. Keep in mind this is a fundraiser and our nonprofit does not employ any paid referees for Love for Linley Cup or anything we do. It's truly incredible we had so many refs volunteer (and for multiple games!) because most were also coaching and/or playing as well. Our older refs braved the heat and came early to help with younger games. It takes a village and ours came through- THANK YOU REFS!

We did it! We did this together and we feel all the #loveforlinley

Were there hiccups? Maybe a few. For 99.9% of the tournament we got really great feedback from players and coaches and we're looking forward to next year. Thank you for the kind words- they mean a lot to us. As for the hiccups... nothing we can’t handle. We love the passion for the game, and Linley would have appreciated the passion to win and for things to be perfect. We try to keep things in perspective with the reminder that there are much worse things in life than whatever happens at a soccer tournament. If you have a suggestion for us to make our event even better, please let us know. We are just regular parents (who never played soccer) and are learning each year. We don't have all the resources available at our fingertips to host a tournament of this magnitude, but somehow we make it work and for that we are pretty darn proud. We know Linley is cheering us on.

Thank you again to all the teams including players, coaches, managers and families. You are part of something very special and are helping keep Linley's legacy alive and realize our dream of a cancer-free future. We hope you all had a fantastic day (despite the relentless heat) and will join us next year for our 3rd annual LFL Cup in 2025.

Until next year...