By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – It was Jan. 9, Harley Matela’s birthday, and the young Norfolk teenager was anxious to celebrate. But then came the call no one wants to receive. He’d had some pain and been tested and the results were in.
He was told that he has testicular cancer and that he needed immediate treatment.
If the five weeks since, he’s undergone surgery at the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters and is now in the second of 12 weeks of chemotherapy.
And, yes, that’s a lot for a young person to have to deal with.
But he also knows he has the support of the Old Dominion baseball team.
His brother is ODU pitcher Bailey Matela, and when he shared the story of his Harley’s struggle against cancer, his teammates wanted to do anything they could to help.
And that explains why when ODU opened its season this weekend against Quinnipiac, the Monarchs wore warmups in batting practice with “Harley Strong” on the back.
“Harley is part of our family here because he’s in Bailey’s family,” said ODU Head Coach Chris Finwood.
“We want to support him through the entire process.”
Bailey, who will start the second game of a doubleheader with Quinnipiac on Saturday, said he’s been touched by the support his family is receiving from ODU.
“I’ve been here four years now, so this place, all of my teammates and my coaches and everyone else here, they’re like my second family,” Bailey said.
Bailey passed out purple bracelets, the color for testicular cancer, to his teammates and then approached Finwood.
“I told him about the bracelets and he immediately started thinking of ways to support Harley in a bigger way,” Bailey said. “He said families support each other and he suggested the idea of doing warmups. He wanted Harley to know that he’s an honorary member of the team.
“I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a great idea.’”
His mother, Lara, is a single Mom who is raising four kids – Bailey is the oldest – and Bailey acknowledges “that all of this has been hard for her.
“But she’s strong. She raised all four of us by herself and did a hell of a job.”
Of course, it’s been hardest on Harley. He attends Cape Henry Collegiate School. Because of the post-operative recovery, and chemo, he is taking classes online at the family’s home in Larchmont, a short drive from ODU’s campus.
“The family is an ODU family,” Finwood said. “Bailey’s brother is in school here.
“We’ve known them for years.”
The warmups have the familiar ODU baseball logo, “OD” on the front, with “Harvey Strong” on the back. And while the shirts are blue, they have purple accents on the side.
Bailey told his brother earlier this week about the warmups.
“He’s a quiet guy, but you could definitely tell it touched him to know that the whole team was supporting him,” Bailey said.
“I’m so appreciative of everyone here for their support. It means a lot to my entire family.”
Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
To see past stories from Minium, CLICK HERE