Lacrosse, Cancer Connection Comes Full Circle For Fairfield's Jeff Keith

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The unlikely intersection between lacrosse and cancer helped define Jeff Keith’s career path. On Saturday, the Fairfield resident and co-founder of the Connecticut Challenge comes to the intersection again when he will be honored at the NCAA men’s lacrosse Final Four for his impact on the community through his charitable organization.

Fairfield's Jeff Keith, co-founder of the Connecticut Challenge, will be honored Saturday at the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Final Four. Keith is a cancer survivor and a former college lacrosse player.
Photo Credit: *Courtesy of Connecticut Challenge*

Tom Renner

Content Partner: William Pitt Sotheby's International Realty - Fairfield

Buick featured Keith and the Connecticut Challenge during the NCAA Basketball Tournament pre-game show. The video on CBS was watched by over 15 million viewers. As a result to the response from that story, Buick voted on and selected Keith to be honored at NCAA Final Four.

He will be presented with a a $5,000 check for the Connecticut Challenge at halftime of Saturday’s second game in the Final Four in Philadelphia between Syracuse and Denver. Keith will also speak to fans and a 90-second video by CBS Sports on the CT Challenge will be played at the stadium.

Keith, a former lacrosse player at Boston College, started the Connecticut Challenge with Jeff Ragland in 2005 to empower cancer survivors to live healthier and happier lives. Keith was 12 when he was diagnosed with cancer. His leg was amputated above the knee.

“Lacrosse really helped me in getting my life back,’’ said Keith, who is coaching his son’s seventh-grade team this spring in the first-year Fairfield Youth Lacrosse league. “It helped me overcome cancer and a physical disability. Sports can help teenagers build self-esteem, and athletics were key in my rehab in overcoming cancer.”

Keith’s battle with cancer led him to start the Connecticut Challenge. He visited a survivor clinic in Boston and came away wanting to do more for them.

“I had toxic drugs when I was 12, 13 and 14, and they have long term effects on the body. I thought there is a lost generation of survivors. There are a lot of people that don’t know that the drugs that they took have an impact on their body.”

The centerpiece towards Keith’s goal to empower survivors opened last year in Fairfield. The Center for Survivorship is the only free-standing facility in the United State geared exclusively toward cancer survivors. The center offers fitness classes, personal training, support groups, nutrition counseling and resources to help cancer survivors.

“It’s all headed in the direction that we wanted when we first started,’’ Keith said. “Our goal is to impact the lives of as many survivors as we can. The stories we have about how we’re changing lives through exercise and nutrition is how I measure our impact and our value.”

Most of the Connecticut Challenge’s financial support comes from a bike ride each July. This year’s event will be held July 26 and 27 beginning at the Fairfield County Hunt Club in Westport. Cyclists have the option of riding between 10 and 100 miles. Money raised from the ride supports programs at the Center for Survivorship and at hospitals throughout the state.

“The bike ride is a really a survivor’s day of celebration,’’ Keith said. “Last year we had 85 survivors and 40 volunteers. It’s a day to make them feel important and come together.”