View photos of signing day here
UNIVERSITY CENTER — Boston-headquartered national nonprofit Team IMPACT, whose mission is to improve the quality of life for children facing serious and chronic illnesses through the power of team, along with Saginaw Valley State University Baseball, held a special Draft Day celebration for 5-year-old James Peoples of Flint, Michigan on Tuesday, Mar. 20 at the Ryder Center. James was diagnosed in 2016 with Neuroblastoma.
Through Team IMPACT's program at Saginaw Valley State University, the top recruit of 2018 became an official member of the SVSU Baseball team with a signing day held with head coach Chris Ebright, one of James's new teammates, Z Westley, assistant coach Clay VanderLaan and his immediate family, in attendance.
As a team member, James will attend the Cardinals practices, games, team dinners, events, and more.
Ebright spoke on the courageous battle young James has been through with his diagnosis during the press conference and how he has already affected the team as a whole.
"James has really impacted our program immensely with his courageous battle against Neuroblastoma over the past two years," Ebright said. "His toughness is something I hope our guys strive to show on and off the field."
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.
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"Team IMPACT is a national nonprofit headquartered in Boston, MA 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 1,400 children with more than 500 colleges and universities in 47 states, reaching over 35,000 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."
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