Park Hill to play at Livestrong Sporting Park

Every young soccer player has dreams at one time or another of playing at the next level and maybe even professionally someday. With a successful professional soccer franchise such as Sporting Kansas City and the beautiful Livestrong Sporting Park right here at home, the dream can take the form of an even clearer vision. While the odds are most high school players won’t go onto a career in professional soccer, the players at Park Hill and Oak Park will get to see, touch, smell, and feel what it is like to play in a professional stadium this Friday as they match-up in a special opportunity to play at Livestrong Sporting Park following the regularly scheduled professional game.

The game won’t be just any randomly selected game between healthy Northland rivals though. It will be a testament to Oak Park senior forward Ray Saari, who was diagnosed with testicular and lung cancer as a sophomore. Saari is a two time all-state selection who was selected as a player of the year recipient in several categories last season. Park Hill coach Josh Marchbank says he’s watched him play for several years and sees an extraordinary young man.

“He’s now been through chemotherapy and went through the worst. I saw him play indoor soccer when he was going through that. He’s a great person,” Marchbank said. “A lot of these guys (Park Hill players) are best friends with Ray and have played club soccer with him. They’re all very familiar with him and his story.”

Saari’s battle with cancer allowed him to form a close relationship with the Livestrong organization, which helps support those affected by cancer, and cyclist Lance Armstrong who is the group’s founder.

“At the opening game at Livestrong Sporting Park this season, he walked out with Lance Armstrong. So they’ve met on several occasions,” Marchbank said. “This is kind of a testimonial to him. They asked Oak Park if they wanted to play a game for Ray. He wanted to play a quality opponent with a friendly rivalry, so they asked us.”

Oak Park is expected to be wearing yellow jerseys, which is the theme color of the Livestrong organization. Livestrong Day, which is October 2, will try to organize and promote the largest single display of support for cancer survivors in history.