STATE COLLEGE, CENTRE COUNTY - A free soccer clinic was held Sunday evening in memory of a Park Forest Elementary third grader.
"Mack loves soccer. It was a chance for him to be with his friends he loved the most and he loved being a keeper," Christian Brady said. "He loved being able to play out there. He loved being able to defend for his team and stop those shots as they were coming in."
Mack Brady was just eight years old, but his dad, Christian Brady, says he was full of passion.
"He absolutely loved soccer, he loved his buddies and was full of life and energy. Just a tremendous little boy."
Mack would be just two days shy of his ninth birthday Sunday, but on New Year's Eve, a bacterial infection took away his life.
"It's a very tragic and touching story," Todd Hoffard said.
Hoffard is a profession goal keeper coach from Central Pennsylvania and like so many others in the State College and Penn State communities, after hearing Mack's story, he knew he had to help.
"We call it the 'goal keeper union.' We all stick together and that's exactly what we're trying to do today," he said.
Sunday, dozens of young soccer players are practicing their skills and raising money for Mack.
"His mother, Elizabeth, and I wanted to endow a scholarship in Mack's name in memory with the Penn State Men's Soccer Team so that his name might live on in the field that he hoped some day to play on," Brady said.
A field full of young dreams, and love and support for a family that's been through so much.
"It's incredibly humbling," Brady said. "The hundreds and thousands of people who have expressed their support for us and their love for Mack and to see his best friends out there playing and having a chance to enjoy the sport they love most, even though their buddy can't be with them, it means an awful lot to us, especially as we come up to his ninth birthday."
If you would like to make a donation to the Mack Brady athletic scholarship, you can make a contribution online at http://givenow.psu.edu or by sending a check, payable to Penn State with "In memory of Mack Brady" in the memo line, to Penn State University, One Old Main, University Park, PA 16802.
"Mack loves soccer. It was a chance for him to be with his friends he loved the most and he loved being a keeper," Christian Brady said. "He loved being able to play out there. He loved being able to defend for his team and stop those shots as they were coming in."
Mack Brady was just eight years old, but his dad, Christian Brady, says he was full of passion.
"He absolutely loved soccer, he loved his buddies and was full of life and energy. Just a tremendous little boy."
Mack would be just two days shy of his ninth birthday Sunday, but on New Year's Eve, a bacterial infection took away his life.
"It's a very tragic and touching story," Todd Hoffard said.
Hoffard is a profession goal keeper coach from Central Pennsylvania and like so many others in the State College and Penn State communities, after hearing Mack's story, he knew he had to help.
"We call it the 'goal keeper union.' We all stick together and that's exactly what we're trying to do today," he said.
Sunday, dozens of young soccer players are practicing their skills and raising money for Mack.
"His mother, Elizabeth, and I wanted to endow a scholarship in Mack's name in memory with the Penn State Men's Soccer Team so that his name might live on in the field that he hoped some day to play on," Brady said.
A field full of young dreams, and love and support for a family that's been through so much.
"It's incredibly humbling," Brady said. "The hundreds and thousands of people who have expressed their support for us and their love for Mack and to see his best friends out there playing and having a chance to enjoy the sport they love most, even though their buddy can't be with them, it means an awful lot to us, especially as we come up to his ninth birthday."
If you would like to make a donation to the Mack Brady athletic scholarship, you can make a contribution online at http://givenow.psu.edu or by sending a check, payable to Penn State with "In memory of Mack Brady" in the memo line, to Penn State University, One Old Main, University Park, PA 16802.
