September is Kick Childhood Cancer Month across Major League Soccer.
Players and teams band together to raise awareness and donations to fund childhood cancer research, while also performing community outreach to support kids and families battling the disease.
For Seattle Sounders midfielder Kelyn Rowe, this particular September has taken on extra significance.
After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rowe was able to bring back his work with Kelyn’s Never Ever Give Up Crew for the club’s 2-1 win over the Houston Dynamo.
“It was incredible,” Rowe told SoundersFC.com. “That experience for me is the reason why I enjoy playing so much in front of the fans. It creates such an atmosphere that is like nothing else.”
Part of the Jessie Rees Foundation, Rowe’s NEGU Crew is a program that supports families experiencing childhood cancer by trying to cure bad days and letting kids be kids again. This includes hospital visits, sending children Joy Jars filled with toys, and giving families matchday experiences.
Rowe first became involved with his NEGU Crew back in 2015 while playing with the New England Revolution. It was an initiative that brought new meaning to his professional career, as he’s been able to use his platform to galvanize the community in support of kids fighting such a horrific disease.
Due to the risk posed by COVID-19, Rowe was unable to bring kids out to Sounders matches until earlier this month.
“It’s been important to have this back,” he said. “It just brings a light to the community when things aren’t so great, especially through COVID, and what the families are going through and the fight they’re going through.”
When Seattle hosted the Dynamo on September 4, Kelyn’s NEGU Crew brought Dominic, an eight-year-old battling Ewan Sarcoma, to the match at Lumen Field. Dominic was able to go on the field pre-match, take in the game with his family from a suite, and then go on the field post-match to celebrate with players and salute the fans.
For Rowe, it was remarkable to witness the joy from Dominic and his family, as well the unwavering support from the fans in his hometown.
“I was so happy that I was able to experience our fans doing that for the child and the family,” said Rowe. “I hope it just grows and continues to grow, but I’m just ecstatic and so pleased that it is back.”
Since joining the Sounders ahead of the 2021 season, Rowe’s friends and family have been able to watch him play week-in and week-out. It’s been a dream come true for the Federal Way native.
Now his loved ones in the stands get to see him do the work he finds most meaningful: supporting kids like Dominic going through something so unimaginably difficult as childhood cancer.
“I’m so happy that my family as able to see this stuff firsthand,” said Rowe. “I did a lot of stuff in Massachusetts, so it’s difficult that they were never able to see those events. For them to see what I’m doing and how they raised me – and the community that raised me as well – they get to see that I’m able to give back.”
Rowe is one of several Sounders players who’ve used their platforms throughout Kick Childhood Cancer month. Goalkeeper Stefan Frei has partnered with Scarves Fighting Cancer and glassybaby to help raise funds for immunotherapy research at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and Will Bruin’s Thumbs Up IPA at Georgetown Brewing is donating 100 percent of proceeds to the same cause.
Players throughout the squad have shown up and supported each other’s efforts in the fight against childhood cancer.
“I think it’s amazing to see that this is bigger than just a team,” said Rowe. “It’s a community. It’s a family. It’s something that brings us together for a great cause.”
Rowe is acutely aware that soccer is more than just a game. It’s a vehicle for investing in the community and a catalyst for change.
For Rowe, his professional career has been given new purpose by the impact he can make on the lives of a family experiencing childhood cancer – even if it’s just providing a matchday full of joy and some semblance of normalcy.
“These kids, the whole family and the friends of the family are going through this battle against something that never should be brought upon a kid,” said Rowe. “They’ve done nothing to deserve what they’re going through… If I can bring a kid and their family outside of the hospital, outside of that fight, just to have that enjoyment, that smile and let that kid be a kid again. And to have that support from the fans. That’s what I want to do.”
