Local Boy Organizing Juvenile Arthritis Golf Tournament
A local 12-year old boy is championing a campaign to raise awareness and funds for Juvenile Arthritis
12-year old Zach Thompson was diagnosed with a form of Juvenile Arthritis that forced him to pull out of sports at age 10 due to what at the time was being diagnosed as growing pains.
With the assistance of his local Chiropractor Dr. Ken Gagner, Zach’s family was referred to specialists in London where the official diagnosis of Juvenile Arthritis was made. Almost immediately the Arthritis Society was in contact offering support in multiple ways. Shortly thereafter Zach was prescribed a medication known as Humera, and the positive effects were witnessed within a couple of weeks.
Today Zach enjoys all the sports and activities he did before his diagnosis, pain free and other than his bi-weekly injections one wouldn’t know he even has Arthritis. He currently participates in the Essex-Kent Hughes Jr. Golf Tour and will be playing Local League Hockey for the South Kent Lightning for his 3rd season in 4 years.
Because of all the support Zach has received from the Arthritis Society he has created a group called Zacoz Amigoz, that focuses on raising awareness and funds for Juvenile Arthritis.
Due to his love of the game of Golf he is organizing and hosting the 1st Annual Family Scramble for Juvenile Arthritis. It is a Texas Scramble format golf tournament with one incredible variation, it includes kids. One kid, one adult per team with mini events for both kids and adults where everyone will walk away with an incredible swag bag and valuable prizes.
When asked, Zach said the level of community and corporate support has blown me away! We even have support from golf companies as far away as California and Germany, Ping Golf alone has sent $600 worth of prizes”
Zach hopes to see at least 50 teams sign up for the tournament to make it a huge success and ensure future tournaments. “Right now registrations aren’t where we would like them to be, but we know what kind of community we live in and have a feeling we will be blown away as the date gets closer” Co-organizer Scott Thompson added.
The Tournament takes place at The Links of Kent Golf Course on Sunday July 29th at 1:30pm. Entry is $150 per team (includes 18 holes, cart, dinner, swag bag, and prizes for 1 Kid and 1 Adult). For more information go to www.zacozamigoz.com or contact Scott Thompson at 226-626-9994.