The Beginning

On September 9th, 2012 the Marist Women's Soccer Team adopted Jaimie Ferretti through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation. The Marist Athletic Department held an induction ceremony in her honor. In front of hundreds of fans, friends, and family, Jaimie Ferretti was proudly welcomed into the Marist Women's Soccer family.  In that moment, our lives were changed forever. Not only we were playing for ourselves as a team, or as individuals, we were now playing for an eleven year old girl with a pediatric brain tumor.

This was the first day we met Jaimie and our hearts stopped when she stepped out onto the field. She began by hiding behind her mother, scared to reveal herself to us, clearly overwhelmed by being the center of attention in a positive way for once. When her name was announced over the loudspeaker, she was forced to step out from behind her mom and walk over to her new team and family. Our jaws dropped when we saw her for the first time. Jaimie is beautiful. She is small for an eleven year old, and has blonde hair and blue eyes. We were just as nervous as she was. We were now accountable for an eleven year old girl's hopes and dreams and we didn't want to let her down. We were scared that we wouldn't be good enough for her, or make her feel comfortable, or live up to what she hoped we'd be. But, the moment Jaimie began embracing everyone on our team, we could feel our nerves fade just as hers seemed to as well. We had an instant connection - one that can't be put into words. That was the start of a new beginning, not only for the team, not only for our coaches, but for Jaimie and the Ferretti family. We all had hope.

Live in the moment. Play in the moment.