The Kate Amato Foundation’s inaugural Kate Kombo Golf and Pickleball Tournament will be held on Oct. 20 at The Yards in Sawgrass. All net proceeds from this event will benefit The Kate Amato Foundation, whose mission is to fund innovative, nontoxic treatments for childhood cancer.
The foundation kept busy in September during Childhood Cancer Awareness month. Each week, they delivered care packages to Wolfson Children’s Hospital and Nemours Children’s Health. These packages provide comfort and smiles to local children, parents and health care heroes fighting cancer.
Additionally, they supported students launching Kate Klub chapters in local schools, including Episcopal School of Jacksonville, Bishop Kenny High School, Providence School, Holy Family Catholic School, Fletcher and Ponte Vedra High School. This new program is a school-based club dedicated to honoring Kate Amato’s kind spirit and inspiring kids to join the fight against childhood cancer. The mission of the club is to raise awareness, organize kindness projects and volunteer to support Kate Amato Foundation programs and events.
In addition, the foundation has been working to sell out registration for the first ever Kate Kombo Golf and Pickleball Tournament.
Kate Kombo, presented by Northwestern Mutual, is the first of its kind, offering something for everyone.
Twenty golf foursomes will play a shotgun start, 15-hole course, culminating in a shoot-out for the top teams. Meanwhile, 36 pickleball pairs will simultaneously compete on 12 courts in a waterfall format, which consists of a combination of round robin and single elimination. Four rounds of round robin take place, then based on the results, teams will move into a single elimination draw. This guarantees a minimum of five games for each team. At the end of tournament play, all golfers and picklers will reunite on the expansive Yards patio for further fun, fundraising, awards and a luncheon. There is even an option for spectators to attend, cheer and heckle throughout the day.
Lisa and Jeff Amato, co-founders of the foundation, lost their daughter Kate at the age of 11 in November 2016 after a long and difficult battle with cancer. Through her illness, Kate’s parents discovered how severely underfunded research for pediatric cancer is and witnessed first-hand the effects of outdated treatments. To honor Kate’s life and continue the fight for other children, Kate Amato Foundation was formed.
As part of their mission, the Kate Amato Foundation awards grant funding to cutting-edge pediatric cancer research projects at some of the leading immunotherapy and cancer genomics research labs in the country including: Duke University, Dana Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School, UCLA, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), The University of Colorado, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Cancer Research Hospital, The University of Buffalo and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. To date, the foundation has funded $475,000 in grants to support groundbreaking research.
The foundation relies on the support of local businesses and donors to support its mission. It has found great partners in companies like Northwestern Mutual, a longtime supporter of the foundation and the work it is doing.
“We are so excited to host the first annual golf and pickleball tournament for the Kate Amato Foundation at a world class facility,” said Bradley Ernst, Kate Kombo pickleball committee chair and wealth management adviser at Northwestern Mutual. “This is an opportunity to support pediatric cancer research while playing the fastest growing sport in America. We hope others in the community will step up and join us for a day of fun and fundraising.”
Additional sponsors are still wanted and registration for play is open until Tuesday, Oct. 10.
The Kate Kombo will be held from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 20 at The Yards in Sawgrass. Registration includes team play for golf or pickleball, gift bags, brunch bar and Kombo Party. All levels of play are welcome. Prices for registration are as follows: Golf foursome is $1,250 and pickleball pair is $350. Spectators are encouraged, and tickets are $75. Following the tournament, there will be a collective celebration for all players and spectators with complimentary lunch, live auction, prizes and an awards ceremony.
To donate to the Kate Amato Foundation or learn more about participating in Kate Kombo, go to KateAmatoFoundation.org.
