March 25, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Senior Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) and the men's tennis team have paired up with Uplifting Athletes to launch the "Hit for Life" campaign. Reilly, a captain on the team, is leading a cause close to him after his own battle with kidney disease last year.
Reilly worked with founder Scott Shirley and the Uplifting Athletes chapter at Penn State to setup the "Hit for Life" campaign to raise money and awareness for kidney cancer and disease research. The campaign will continue through the end of the Penn State men's tennis season.
"I've always been impressed with Uplifting Athletes and what they do," said Reilly. "They reached out to all of the athletes at Penn State and I thought this was perfect for me with their focus on kidney disease."
The senior aims to help raise awareness after battling and playing through kidney disease last spring and had his left kidney removed over the summer. He has since recovered and continued his play on the court, where he mainly plays doubles for the Nittany Lions.
During Big Ten matches, fans can choose to pledge an amount of money to donate for each individual match won. Reilly included this past weekend's non-conference match against Wagner to get the campaign going. Penn State's 7-0 win generated donations for each of their seven points. However, fans can also make a one-time donation.
Reilly's initial goal was to raise $500 but after seeing the support from the Penn State community, he has increased his goal to $5,000.
Reilly has worked to get the rest of the men's tennis team involved.
"I think the whole team has responded really well to this," said Reilly. "The coaches have been very supportive. It's also motivating for us to win and we see the amount growing. It's very interactive, especially for me, if I clinch the doubles point, that's really huge for me and it's a way for us to give back and hopefully integrate that with the Penn State community."
Reilly also credited his teammates for helping him in his efforts to fight through the pain and recovery.
"My teammates helped me out a lot when I was going through the pains last year," said Reilly. "They kept telling me to push through. When I was recovering this summer, I couldn't play any tennis, I was pretty much on the couch all day, every day. Keeping up with my teammates and having their support motivated me to recover faster and get back on the court. I did, I'm now 100% and having a great year."
To donate, fans can visit pldgit.com/psutennis.