Sunday Angler’s Party highlights bravery, kindness
On Sunday night, attendees of the annual Angler’s Party heard numerous stories about why this event means so much to Cooper. The coach spoke of the aforementioned Colton, the youngster who inspired him to take action and help kids fighting cancer when he was still a rookie head coach in 2015.
Rob Higgins, USF Athletics CEO, shared his story of battling cancer side by side with his father after waking up from a routine colonoscopy surrounded by doctors last year.
“Kids need help,” Higgins told the audience Sunday. “And that’s why we’re here.”
Sunday’s dinner guest list was impressive. Hall of Fame NBA player and current television analyst Charles Barkley. Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor. World Series champions Tino Martinez and David Wells. Pro Football Hall of Famer Ronde Barber. Professional wrestler Titus O’Neil. But the celebration wasn’t about them this weekend. It was about the four young cancer survivors who took center stage after Cooper’s speech:
Ceci Ayule, this year’s guest of honor. Ayule, 10, was diagnosed with leukemia as a second-grader in December 2022 and is now in remission.
The event’s 2017 guest of honor Weston Herman, a 19-year-old who was diagnosed with brain cancer for the first time at the age of seven and has battled brain cancer five times.
Nine-year-old Jaxon Warburton, the hockey player who caught a tarpon at last year’s fishing tournament and was the ThunderKid for Hockey Fights Cancer Night last year after surviving a 12-hour surgery to fight ganglioneuroblastoma when he was three.
Remi Sutherland, the seven-year-old who is currently in remission after being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and enduring eight rounds of chemo over two and a half years.
Each received a signed Lightning jersey on Sunday night, followed by a “Love you all” from the Bolts coach.
In its inaugural year, Coop’s Catch for Kids raised $60,000. This year’s donation alone hit $500,000 behind boat sponsorships as well as donations from community and Lightning organization members.
“I’m not sitting here saying Coop’s Catch is going to cure cancer. It’s not curing cancer. It’s not,” Cooper said Sunday. “But we can help. We can put them in a better place. We can make their lives better. We can make everything just a little bit better.”
Longtime Lightning owner Jeff Vinik joined incoming owners Doug Ostrover, Marc Lipschultz and Nicole Padgett—as well as Padgett’s husband Marc—in contributing $50,000 each shortly after donations opened.
Lightning employees from the hockey operations and business teams combined to donate tens of thousands of dollars.
When Lightning players plotted to out-donate Cooper on Sunday, a giving war between the two sides began. As their combined contributions surpassed $50,000, Ostrover stepped in with an additional contribution of $12,500 to push the party’s donations over $400,000.