Press Releases

Atlanta 2009/05/29 -The American Cancer Society will host its 10th annual Coaches vs. Cancer Golf Invitational, Sunday and Monday, June 7-8, at the fabled Raleigh (N.C.) Country Club. NCAA Division I college basketball and football coaches from across the nation will compete in this fundraising tournament to support the fight against cancer. Among participating basketball coaches are Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Jim Calhoun (Connecticut), Gary Williams (Maryland), Tubby Smith (Minnesota), Jay Wright (Villanova), Phil Martelli (Saint Joseph’s), Fran Dunphy (Temple), Bobby Cremins (College of Charleston), Fran McCaffery (Siena), Bobby Lutz (Charlotte) as well as ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas. Football coaches playing in the tournament include Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech), Jim Grobe (Wake Forest) Tom O’Brien (N.C. State), former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, and former Georgia coach and current ESPN college football analyst Jim Donnan.

Coaches vs. Cancer, which began in 1993 in collaboration with National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), focuses on year-round educational efforts and fundraising activities in support of the American Cancer Society’s mission of saving lives.

“Coaches vs. Cancer’s expanding presence and influence, supported by events such as the Golf Invitational, are enabling the American Cancer Society to help people stay well, help them get well, find cures and fight back against the disease. The involvement of these coaches, who give tirelessly of their time and energy to raise awareness of the fight against cancer, is a prime example of how teamwork makes all the more meaningful the Society’s vision of creating a world with more birthdays,” said Van Velsor Wolf, 2008-09 volunteer chair, American Cancer Society National Board of Directors.

Through their passion for the game and their promotion of healthy lifestyles, participating coaches elevate awareness of cancer at their schools, in their communities and throughout the nation, oftentimes emphasizing how cancer has touched them personally.

“I’m very proud of my association with Coaches vs. Cancer and with the Golf Invitational. It has grown a lot, and we continue to get more coaches involved. I love seeing the coaches, and I really enjoy helping raise funds and awareness for the American Cancer Society,” said Cremins, the most recent Coaches vs. Cancer Council appointee.

The Raleigh Country Club has enjoyed a rich history, including the distinction of being the final design created by world-renowned Scotch golf course architect Donald Ross. Since opening in 1949, the par 71, 6,869-yard layout has hosted number LPGA events as well as several Nike/Nationwide Tour events of the PGA Tour. It has also been the qualifying events site for such noted competitions as the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur, and U.S. Junior Amateur Championships. The Raleigh Country Club is one of five signature courses owned and operated since 2003 by Raleigh-based McConnell Golf, LLC. Each of McConnell Golf’s five clubs is maintained and serviced to the highest standards, offering individual club memberships as well as innovative corporate and national/international memberships for unmatched access to the top courses in the Carolinas.

The Coaches vs. Cancer Golf Invitational will be featured in a segment of the Golf Channel documentary series, “Golf in America,” airing several times nationally in August (dates to be determined). The half-hour original series, which debuted with a special show in April and resumes weekly in mid-June, is hosted by comedian/actor Anthony Anderson and features intriguing stories from the amateur side of golf and its place in the fabric of America. The Coaches vs. Cancer Golf Invitational segment will spotlight the coaches’ and their foursome guests’ camaraderie on the course and their unified purpose of raising awareness and funds to fight cancer.

Coaches vs. Cancer supports the American Cancer Society’s fight against cancer through its involvement with numerous programs and events, including the summer golf invitational; high school basketball fundraisers; basketball galas; the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic – a preseason, 16-school college basketball tournament that culminates in New York City’s Madison Square Garden in November; Suits and Sneakers Awareness Weekend in mid-season; and the Fight Cancer in Style endeavor for coaches’ wives during the 2010 Final Four weekend in Indianapolis.

The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing nearly $3.4 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us anytime, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.