Lawler siblings united behind foundation named for father

Occasionally uneasy, sometimes rocky, the parent-child relationship shares a basic reciprocal goal.

Parents seek to provide their children tools to create a productive, happy, compassionate life.

Children hope to prove they were paying attention, though it may take a decade or four.

That essentially is what the Phil Lawler Batting 4 A Cure Foundation is about. In its second year as a nonprofit organization with a mission to benefit Naperville families affected by cancer, its namesake was a children's physical education teacher and fitness advocate known to many as Naperville Central's hall of fame pitching coach.

After battling four rounds of cancer, Lawler succumbed to a fifth on April 23, 2010. In death he inspired the Redhawks to win the 2010 Class 4A baseball championship.

He also inspired his children, Kimberly, Scott and Todd, and their friends to form the Batting 4 A Cure Foundation, which will hold its second annual charity golf outing Sept. 20 at Tamarack Golf Club in Naperville. All 144 spots for the scramble sold out in two weeks.

"This golf outing is primarily my sister," said Scott Lawler, Benet's three-year varsity baseball coach whose staff includes his brother.

"It's her way to pass on my dad's legacy, and what a way to bring back friends and family, and new people, who share what he was all about," Scott said.

At home, on the diamond, at Madison Junior High, with his program PE4Life - which brought him to Washington, D.C., to testify for improved physical education - and even in the documentary, "Super Size Me," Lawler sought to benefit young people.

The Batting 4 A Cure Foundation's 2013 golf outing rewarded those goals when $12,000 was donated to either the Edward Hospital Cancer Center or families dealing with medical costs. This year's goal is to raise $20,000.

"Then we could help out Edward Hospital and help out more than one or two families in the area," Scott Lawler said.

Following the morning golf outing is a luncheon and silent auction. Online donations and sponsorships are still welcome.

"As a kid you always want to make your parents proud," said Kimberly (Lawler) Marino, who described herself as "the crazy one" of the three Lawler kids growing up.

"He always taught me to achieve my goals and be creative, don't wait for things to happen," she said. "I feel like by starting this organization I was able to give my dad the living legacy that he deserved. I surrounded myself with family and best friends that uplift me."

"I tell you what," Scott Lawler said, "I think he'd be really proud of all of us. More importantly I think he'd be really proud of how my sister rallied around a great cause and rallied her friends for a great cause, too. I think he'd be really proud and happy."

Coach Kopec has the floor

On St. Francis girls volleyball's "Alumni Night" Aug. 29, the Spyglass Athletic Center volleyball court was dedicated as "Coach Peg Kopec Court."

Illinois' coach with the most victories regardless of sport, more than 1,160 of them plus 10 state titles spanning 40 years, Kopec graciously accepted the honor.

"They made more of it than I expected," she said this week. "I don't know what I expected, but it was quite lovely and quite touching, and it gave me an opportunity to thank a lot of people. I liked that. I thanked my family for allowing me to live my passion."

In addition to noting her children, Jason, Joshua, Jennifer and Erin, the coach credited assistant coaches Lisa Ston and Dave Boze.

"One person cannot do this at all," Kopec said.

Inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association and the Illinois Girls Coaches Association halls of fame, perhaps Kopec's favorite honor was participating in the Chicago Sky's Title IX Team reception in 2008. That saluted the 40th anniversary of legislation expanding female athletic opportunities.

"I really like that a woman's name is on the floor," Kopec said.

Among those attending the court-naming dedication were four of her five grandchildren.

The fifth? She was at volleyball practice.

A real home game

Northern Illinois University's women's soccer team offers Lauren Noonan and Allie McBride.

We bring this up because on Friday the Huskies host Chicago State not in DeKalb but at Commissioners Park in Naperville. That's right down the street from where the two midfielders attended high school at Neuqua Valley.

Game time is 7 p.m. If heading south on Route 59 to Commissioners Park on 111th Street, give yourself about a day.

Practice pays off

Glenbard West senior Alex Diab has sacrificed much for major gain.

Monday through Friday the gymnast trains about three-and-a-half hours a day then goes longer on Saturday. He fits school work in somehow - he's got a 4.85 grade-point average.

Suffice to say doesn't hang out much with friends at Jamba Juice.

"It's really time consuming, but I enjoy it. I have fun doing it," said Diab, 17. "I wouldn't do it any other way."

The way he did it Aug. 21-24 in Pittsburgh, at the USA Championships, was something special. Registering the top score among junior gymnasts on floor exercise and still rings, his favorite event, Diab earned one of 10 spots on the Men's Junior National Team.

"It feels awesome, I'm really proud of myself," said the Level-10 gymnast. "That was my goal going into the USA Championships. I didn't have the best meet of my life but I still accomplished what I came there to do."

As a freshman at the 2012 Glenbard West sectional, Diab won all six events and with it the all-around title. He won the state all-around title (his 56.70 points are tied for 10th in Illinois High School Association records) and led the Hilltoppers to fourth place overall.

That ended his stay as a prep gymnast. He opted to focus on in-house training and regional and national competition. Diab made the Junior National Team entering his freshman year, missed out the next summer and in March 2013 fractured a femur on a parallel bar dismount, knocking him out of last summer's competition.

He trains at the Premier Gymnastics Academy in Downers Grove, owned by his father, Mark. The elder Diab coaches his son, who also is trained by 2004 Olympic all-around gold medalist Paul Hamm.

Can't get much better than that, especially when the father-son bond is strong.

"He's an awesome role model and coach," said Alex, 5-foot-2 and 125 pounds. "He was my coach from the very beginning and he's taught me so much throughout my gymnastics career."

His focus now is deciding which college to attend from among Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Minnesota, which he visited last weekend. In October he'll head for a week at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, the next step to his logical, ultimate goal of the Olympics.

Diab is committed.

"I'll keep doing what I'm doing now, a lot of focus on gymnastics and staying motivated for my goal," he said.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com

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