MIAMI (Sept. 21, 2016) – During this week's UCF game, Head Coach
Ron Turner and the FIU football coaching staff will be wearing special arm patches in honor of the AFCA's Coach to Cure MD program. This is the ninth year coaches around the country join together to raise funding and awareness of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Pictured (L to R): Maria Barquin (Alex's Aunt – FIU class of 2005), Lianette Gonzalez (Alex's Mother), Alex Casals, Head Coach Ron Turner, Christian Casals (Alex's Brother), Alian Gonzalez (Alex's Uncle – FIU class of 2014).
Alex Casals, a 9-year-old who is battling against Duchenne muscular dystrophy, will serve as the team's honorary captain during the coin toss. Alex met with the Panthers following a practice earlier this week. During that visit, he showed off some of his dance moves for the Panthers.
Fans are encouraged to donate by texting "CURE" to 90999 or visiting
www.CoachtoCureMD.org.
- Coach to Cure MD is a partnership between the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and Parent Project MD.
- The program has raised more than $1.2 million over the last eight years.
- Last year, more than 10,000 coaches at 525 colleges at all levels participated.
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For the latest information on Panthers football, follow us on Twitter, @FIUFootball, and check out
Pete Pelegrin's in-depth coverage of FIU Athletics on his official blog, The Prowl, at
www.FIUSports.com.
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU:
Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
