Timber Creek girls soccer program crosses $100,000 plateau for Community Hospice of Texas
Keller Timber Creek girls soccer coach Mike King and his entire extended family needed, in essence, a hug back in May 2011.
King’s father, his best friend and hero, Rex King, was terminally ill.
But while Mike struggled with losing a cherished family member, little did he know that he was gaining an even bigger family in the staff of the Community Hospice of Texas (CHOT) in Fort Worth.
“Having them there was like a warm, comforting embrace from your mom,” said Mike King. “It meant everything to us. It’s not just the care that they gave dad, it was unbelievable, but it was the care they gave my whole family. That’s what touched me the most. ”
His dad had insurance, but once Mike found out that CHOT was a non-profit organization that took care of anyone, regardless of whether they could pay or not, it was an easy choice to make.
With the help of his sister, Kaye Nazarko, Mike’s annual fund raising tournament was renamed the Rex King Memorial Cup with all proceeds going to Community Hospice, the state’s largest not-for-profit hospice. It cares for more than 4,000 patients and families each year.
The tournament raised $6,000 the first year in 2012 and has grown each year since. In seven years, over $90,000 has been raised for CHOT with this year’s goal being $20,000.
Mike says that they’re already well on their way to meeting that goal with $14,000 in donations before the tournament even started on Thursday.
Rex King
Rex King was a hard-nosed, blue-collar working man from the west Texas town of Floydada.
After toiling on the family farm, years of working at a drapery company and refurbishing the inside of airplanes for American Airlines, work took it’s toll on Rex’s body, especially his back.
He was a quiet man, and he rarely complained about any physical pain. He never missed a game of Mike’s, but after a playoff game in late March 2011, Mike knew something was wrong with his dad.
Rex had uncharacteristically moved from standing alone in the stands on the attacking end, as he always did, down to the field to lean up against a wall. He also missed the post-game meeting with Mike that was the norm for every game.
“I called mom and asked what was going on and why they had left,” said Mike, who has over 400 career wins. “She said that his back was killing him.”
Rex had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital the next morning after not being able to get out of bed.
Cancer had eaten away the L5 area of his spine causing his spinal cord to collapse on itself. Subsequent tests showed that the aggressive cancer had invaded much of his body.
Two and a half weeks later Rex was gone.
“For them to help us understand the whole process was the most amazing thing,” said Mike of the CHOT staff. “They were there explaining to us what was happening every step of the way and made it to where it was OK.”
Soccer Ties
A Facebook post about his dad’s condition prompted Cara Toulouse, a former player of Mike’s during his stint at Crowley, to reach out.
Toulouse had gone on to play soccer at TCU and after graduation was working in administration at Community Hospice and filled Mike in on what they had to offer.
“It’s crazy because she was dad’s favorite player that has ever played for me,” Mike said. “He loved watching Cara play. She was one of the most dynamic players I’ve ever coached.”
When the time was right, Mike made the move.
This year’s tournament
Eight varsity teams and 24 junior varsity teams will make up this season’s tournament that started on Thursday and runs through Saturday.
Host Timber Creek, Arlington Sam Houston, Denton Ryan, Killeen Ellison, Kilgore, Mesquite, Ennis and El Paso Pebble Hills make up the varsity round-robin that will be played on the turf field at Timber Creek.
The back fields will be used for the junior varsity games.
Fans can donate, participate in raffles, get some gear or just watch some good soccer. You can also donate to Community Hospice of Texas by visiting their web page at www.chot.org.
“I get more excited than I do sad when the tournament rolls around every year,” Mike said. “For my family and my sister’s family, just knowing that in dad’s name we’re giving this money to the hospice and that great things are going to come from it is very important. My passion for this tournament and Community Hospice is all about the love I have for my dad.”
Thursday
Denton Ryan 8, Arlington Sam Houston 0
Kilgore 5, Killeen Ellison 0
Keller Timber Creek 7, Mesquite 0
Ennis 1, El Paso Pebble Hills 1
Friday
El Paso Pebble Hills vs. Arlington Sam Houston 1 p.m.
Mesquite vs. Kilgore, 2:30 p.m.
Denton Ryan vs. Keller Timber Creek 4 p.m.
Ennis vs. Killeen Ellison, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday
El Paso Pebble Hills vs. Kilgore, 9 a.m.
Keller Timber Creek vs. Ennis, 10:30 a.m.
Mesquite vs. El Paso Pebble Hills, noon
Arlington Sam Houston vs. Killeen Ellison, 1:30 p.m.
Denton Ryan vs. Kilgore, 3 p.m.
Ennis vs. Mesquite, 4:30 p.m.
Arlington Sam Houston vs. Keller Timber Creek, 6 p.m.
Killeen Ellison vs. Denton Ryan, 7:30 p.m.