Soccer helps Amityville Memorial High School student cope with mom's breast cancer

Two weeks ago, Amityville Memorial High School varsity soccer player Jeffrey Saravia was focusing on leading his team to the playoffs when his mom sat him down to deliver some upsetting news.

She told him she was diagnosed with cancer in both breasts and needed to undergo surgery. The procedure would happen on the same day of Amityville’s playoff game against Sayville.

“I was sad,” Saravia said, whose parents are Maria Melendez and Carlos Saravia. “I didn’t know what to do.”

The 15-year-old sophomore said it was difficult for him to focus in school because his mom's health would always be on his mind.

But for him, soccer was a way to cope.

“We’re here for you. If you need to be by yourself, that’s OK, too,” assistant coach Chris Gannon recalls telling him. “We’re here to support you.” 

On Friday, his mom was scheduled to go into surgery at noon. The game was set for 2 p.m.

“I wanted to see her,” he said, but wasn’t able to because of the time conflict.

The Warriors ended up advancing to the semifinals with a 5-0 win and Saravia tallying a big assist for the final goal. It was one of his proudest moments in his soccer career, he recalls.

“I did it all for my mom,” he said.

“He was flying,” said Gannon about Saravia’s performance that game.

Gannon and the rest of the coaching staff said they would never have suspected anything was bothering Saravia, who plays both right midfielder and right backer, until he told them about his mother just before the playoff game.

“In the two weeks that he found out, we didn’t notice anything. There was no drop off in his game or his demeanor and that shows huge perseverance,” said Gannon, who’s been an assistant coach with the Warriors for four seasons.

Saravia wished his parents could be there to watch his game, but knows that his mom is recovering and is glad to report that her surgery went well.

“She would have been there if she wasn’t at the hospital,” he said. 

His parents have never missed any of his games, Gannon said.

When he told his mom about the big win, she was happy, Saravia said. He’s been staying with his best friend’s family. They graciously offered to take him in while his father helps his mother during the recovery process.

“My teammates were trying to help me a lot. Before the big game they started saying stuff about my mom and that helped me to focus,” Saravia said. 

“We’re happy to be an outlet for him,” Gannon said.

The Warriors faced John Glenn High School on Monday for the Suffolk Class A semifinal at Burns Park and won 2-0.

Next up, the team will face Hauppauge in the Suffolk Class A finals on Thursday.

Saravia has been playing varsity soccer for Amityville for two seasons and hopes to one day compete at the NCAA Division 1 level for St. John’s University.

“Always treat your mom right because you never know what’s going to happen,” he said.