By Andy Lohman

There wasn't a cloud in the sky on a gorgeous Dallas Sunday afternoon as 11-year-old Evan Jurgensen dribbled his way through a series of SMU student-athletes and shot a soccer ball into the net.

"This means the world to him," his mother, Christine Jurgensen, said. "It's a sense of normalcy again."

Evan is a two-time cancer survivor and a two-time bone marrow transplant recipient. Thanks to the partnership of SMU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and the Move for Miles Foundation, Evan and other children affected by cancer were able to play at Sunday's field day on SMU's campus.

The participants got to play soccer and balloon tennis and run obstacle courses and relay races. SMU student-athletes were there to run the stations and provide instruction, encouragement and laughs.



Move for Miles was founded by two SMU alumni, Jason and Stephanie Dagelewicz, who were both student-athletes. Stephanie, a Hunt scholar, ran track and graduated in 2005 while Jason played football, graduated in 2004 and completed his MBA in 2009. The couple created the foundation shortly after their son, Miles, was diagnosed with pediatric cancer.

The Dagelewiczes know firsthand the challenges a family faces with a pediatric cancer diagnosis. Treatment for the disease requires long, energy-draining hours in the hospital, depriving kids of a normal childhood.

"Kids in treatment with cancer, they're sometimes robbed of their ability to play either because of the limitations of their illness or just the treatment," Jason Dagelewicz said. "Play is the most natural thing for us as humans, particularly as kids. We wanted to have a way for other kids to honor those kids in treatment through the power of play. Then, when able, to have those kids in treatment play too."



About 50 kids participated in the event, 14 of which had received treatment within the last two years. As important as it was for the kids in treatment to have an opportunity to participate in sports, the event also provided perspective to those kids in good health.

"I do think it's important for kids that are well to realize how special that is, and that there are kids who aren't," Stephanie Dagelewicz said.

For all the participants, having SMU student-athletes there made the experience extra special.

"Oh my gosh, what's better than SMU student-athletes?" Christine Jurgensen said. "I think it's a win-win for both of them to tell you the truth. It's a great break for them to realize they get to be role models for these guys, and something for our kids to look forward to."

"The SMU student-athletes and SAAC have been incredible," Jason Dagelewicz said. "My wife and I, as former student-athletes, know the time commitment on student-athletes. So for all of them to be out here for two or three hours of their day is really special for us and for the kids."

This event held special significance for SAAC president and senior swimmer El Yellin.



"We knew we wanted to do something with kids because you can see out here how great a lot of these athletes are with kids," Yellin said. "Childhood cancer is very, very close to my heart. I always wear a bracelet for a teammate who passed away from it. So I've always tried to pull it into SAAC and pull it into athletics. So to see it come to fruition is really cool."

"We couldn't thank them enough," Jason Dagelewicz said of SMU SAAC. "It really says a lot about them as young men and women, leaders now and as future leaders as they move past their time at SMU and into the broader world."



The main goal of Move for Miles is to raise money for pediatric cancer research, an area that is disproportionally underfunded compared to other cancers. The organization will be donating its first grant to a research institution this fall.

The organization is still growing, but it's already providing plenty of smiles for kids with pediatric cancer.

"He is extremely competitive," Christine Jurgensen said of her son Evan as he laughed and ran across the field with his best friend, Aidan. "So knowing he's with the SMU athletes and they're also extremely competitive helps him and he feels like a big kid."