Friday Night Locker Room’s Orville Susong and Steve Wilson Will Bring Awareness to Pediatric Cancer During Live Football Coverage

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

During the month of September, which is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, the Friday Night Locker Room’s Orville Susong and Steve Wilson will be recognizing and honoring one young person that has, or currently is, battling cancer. Honorees for the month of September, pictured clockwise starting from lower left, are Olivia Owens, Julie Spurlock, Vivian Sleeth and Bryson Caster.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – In 2012, President Barack Obama declared the month of September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. He did so to bring awareness to pediatric cancer.

During the month of September, my broadcasting partner, Orville Susong and I will be joining those that hold special pediatric cancer events.  At each of our four Friday night football broadcasts during the month, we will be recognizing and honoring one young person that has had, or is currently, battling cancer.

Of the four very special young people that will be recognized, two are no longer with us.

■ Eight-year-old Olivia Owens of Palm Bay, died on December 16, 2023, from DIPG, a rare form of brain cancer.

■ Twelve-year-old Bryson Caster of Rockledge, died on March 5, 2022, of a rare and aggressive form of bone marrow cancer.

■ Our other two September honorees are Vivian Sleeth, a nine-year-old from Rockledge, who was diagnosed in 2022 with DIPG.

■ Julie Spurlock, a two-time cancer survivor from Merritt Island.

Honoring pediatric cancer patients in September is something Orville and I started a few years ago and means a great deal to both of us. The first thing we do is contact the parents for permission. That is all we need from them.

At each of our games, the name of the honoree will be on our screen throughout the broadcast. We put together a short video with images of our honoree that will be played before, during and after the game.

Orville and I first became involved with pediatric cancer issues in 2013, when 13-year-old Merritt Island resident Julie Spurlock was diagnosed with cancer. Julie ultimately defeated cancer…. twice, and is doing well. She will always have certain health issues to deal with because of the disease and treatment, but she is still with us!

Orville and I both know way too many young people that have had to battle this disease, and that is just in Brevard County alone. According to the Center for Disease and Control Prevention, approximately 15,000 children younger than 20 years-old are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States.

It’s time for us as a society to step up and do something about it. Pediatric cancer is woefully underfunded at the national level with only 4% of all federal funding for cancer research going to childhood cancer.

Our thought process is, if there is anything we can do to help bring awareness to pediatric cancer; we will. You can watch our football broadcasts each Friday night on Space Coast Daily starting at 7:00 p.m.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Steve Wilson was born in DeRidder, Louisiana and grew up in both New Orleans and Macon, Georgia.  He moved to Brevard County in 1984 and retired from local government as the Community Advocate/Assistant to the City Manager with the City of Rockledge in 2018.

Among the awards and accolades Steve has received over the years are 15 + year Rockledge Little League volunteer, Brevard Public School Jefferson Award Recipient, Rockledge High School Raider Booster Award 2001, 2006, City of Rockledge Employee of the Year 2006, Rockledge Kiwanian of the Year 2006-2007, City of Rockledge Quality Public Service Award 2008, 2012, 2017, Rockledge Kiwanis Citizen of the Year 2012-2013, Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame – Sportscasting 2015, Rockledge High School Leadership and Service Award 2016, Central Florida Humanitarian Award 2017, Space Coast Inspiration Award – 2018,  Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame – Lifetime Achievement – 2020, Ecofest Achievement Award – 2022, Quality Floridian Award – 2022, presented by U.S. Congressman Bill Posey.

Wilson is especially proud of his chairing two fundraisers in support of pediatric cancer research through the St. Baldrick’s Foundation in honor of Merritt Island resident Julie Spurlock that raised over $25,000.00.

He has been a partner, along with Orville Susong, for the past 25 years with the Friday Night Locker Room, a broadcasting team that covers and reports on a wide variety of local events that are of significance to the residents of the Space Coast and beyond. Their mission is to promote youth sports, support first responders and law enforcement personnel, and showcase community and charitable events that are produced by our nonprofit partners in central Florida.

The Friday Night Locker Room has awarded hundreds of sports achievement plaques to Brevard County student-athletes over the years. They have also awarded more than $18,000 in academic scholarships to Brevard County high school seniors.

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