Inaugural Joey Powers Memorial Lacrosse Bash a success

By Nick Williams
nwilliams@bradenton.com

This past weekend, friends and family of Joey Powers, a former student at Cardinal Mooney High School in Sarasota who died of leukemia in 2010, gathered with lacrosse players across the Tampa Bay area at the Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch for the inaugural Joey Powers Memorial Stick-In-Bash.

The tournament welcomed 179 lacrosse players of all ages and raised $5,000 for the Joey Powers Leukemia Project, which donates money to families battling leukemia. Over the past year, the Joey Powers Leukemia Project has raised tens of thousands of dollars.



The first Joey Powers Memorial Stick-In-Bash raised $5,000. Courtesy Photo



The sports campus, owned by Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, the developer of Lakewood Ranch, will provide six fields for the tournament free of charge. Tim Mulqueen, director of the sports campus, has offered to name one of the 22 fields after Joey Powers.

Five months after being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at 16, Joey Powers lost his battle with cancer one day shy of his 17th birthday on Nov. 20, 2010.

During their son's treatment, Jim and Angie Powers witnessed other families struggle with finances as their children suffered. Before his passing, Angie's sister created a charity in Joey's honor to help raise money for families affected by leukemia.