By Chloe Senatore
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/23/21
With a grandmother recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Strath Haven senior Wade Mutz is particularly passionate about the 9th Annual ‘Play for the As’ tournament Saturday.
“My grandmother was diagnosed a couple months ago,” said Mutz. “So it’s my first time really feeling the connection.
“I’m starting to see how difficult it is for families with patients with Alzheimer’s.”
The tourney features two games at Strath Haven High’s King Field: Pennridge vs Springfield-Delco at 11 a.m. and North Penn vs. host Strath Haven at 1 p.m.
The event has raised over $105,000 to support local families dealing with the difficulty of 24/7/365 care of family members in need.
To connect you with Play for the As (history and present), please check out this 3-minute link at https://vimeo.com/534462000/765c0aea30, compliments of Active Image Media (https://www.activeimagemedia.com/).
Even though this will be Mutz’s fourth time playing in the fundraising tournament, he says that his grandmother’s recent diagnosis has made him even more excited to be a part of it.
“Now that I’ve seen where all of our fundraising money is going, and I’m learning about how my grandfather is having such a hard time with it,” Mutz said.
“I definitely will be going into this trying to raise more money for the foundation,” he said.
Mutz, who has committed to play lacrosse at Ursinus College, also said that he is grateful for his team’s head coach, who organized this annual tournament nine years ago.
“This happened because (coach), Jef Hewlings’ mother had Alzheimer’s and he knows everything about it,” he said.
Knowing the impact Alzheimer’s has on a family, Mutz said he will be playing this weekend with a special passion.
“It’s very hard on my parents because we live the closest out of my family,” he said. “My parents are always over there helping.”
“I’ve definitely seen it in my grandmother that she’s just gotten worse and worse throughout this whole COVID, because she isn’t able to see anybody. It’s definitely putting a toll on her.”
Despite some repetitiveness as a result of the memory-loss symptoms of the disease, Mutz says he still enjoys having conversations with his grandmother.
“I can have a conversation with her, and she’d be fine with it, she loves to talk, she’s always willing to talk with somebody,” he said.
Overall, Mutz is pumped to go into the tournament on Saturday with a unique perspective, lots of motivation, and a purple jersey.
“I’ll definitely want to give it my all for this tournament and really just try and help out the team, catch a win, although at the end of the day it’s really just about Alzheimer’s and giving back to our community,” Mutz said.
