Reprinted from:	Frederick Gazette
	Date:	Apr 17, 2008
	Two Fundraisers planned this Weekend
	Chris Brown | Staff Writer
	The only clue to an onlooker that there is anything different about FC Frederick soccer player Katie Contardi is the insulin pump she must wear while she plays. More NewsEdnie marks 40 years at Boyds churchReport calls for private operator for golf courseCheverly hospital joining federal crisis response effortHistoric decisions and ordinances placed into actionPublic art sector is ‘booming,' ex-scientist saysDiagnosed with Type I diabetes when she was just 6 years old, Katie, now 11, graduated from insulin injections to an insulin pen, and can now wear the more user-friendly insulin pump during games. While she is an aggressive, athletic player on the U-11 girls’ team with the FC Frederick soccer club, her diabetes is still a burden she must bear. ‘‘She lives with a handicap, and she is going to excel,” Katie’s father, Kevin Contardi, said. ‘‘Her diabetes does not hold her back.” However, sometimes the pressure of multiple games, hot weather and diabetes combined can take a toll on his daughter. Contardi said Katie has been known to succumb to this combination, such as at a tournament in Virginia where she was forced to leave the field after becoming too weak to play. However, watching her practice on Gov. Thomas Johnson Middle School’s athletic field Friday afternoon, Contardi could scarcely contain his pride in his daughter’s courage. ‘‘She is one of my heroes,” he said. Katie’s team is incredibly supportive, and her coach, Donna Pike, helped Kevin Contardi to organize a benefit soccer clinic, Kicks for the Cure, to coincide with a benefit walk for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) on Saturday. Both events will take place at Frederick Community College. Kicks for the Cure will be part fundraiser, part skills clinic, according to Pike. She has been coordinating the event since November, and it will feature skills training for 6- to 16-year-old players with some of FC Frederick’s best coaches, she said. Kevin Contardi will serve as co-chair for the fundraising walk. His family has been involved in similar walks for years, but they have typically participated in Howard County, he said. Katie said the benefits mean a lot to her, not only because they help raise money to cure her condition, but because of the camaraderie. ‘‘FC Frederick is making an effort,” she said. ‘‘That means a lot to me.” On a normal day, Katie has to check her blood glucose level about eight times by pricking the tip of her finger with a lancet. On the day of a soccer tournament, she has to check her blood glucose level as many as 15 times, her father said. During a normal game, she checks her blood during warm-ups, at halftime and after the game, he said. ‘‘If her numbers are good, she can play,” he said. Katie’s friend and teammate, Hayley Crum, was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes on Dec. 28. She is still in the early phase of her treatment, and relies on regular insulin injections to maintain her blood glucose levels. Hayley said she was ‘‘really upset” to learn that she had the disease. Because she has to be very careful about what she eats, Hayley has had to make a lot of changes in her life, her mother, Trina Crum, said. ‘‘She used to be a grazer,” Trina Crum said. ‘‘Her whole lifestyle has changed.” Now Hayley has to make sure she has snacks available during school and at soccer practice and games to make sure her blood glucose level stays where it should. She is coping with the disease, both at school and in her sport, but Hayley said she wishes for a cure. In the past, Katie’s JDRF walk team, Katie’s Quest for the Cure, has been very good at fundraising, and Kevin Contardi hoped the trend would continue this year. Both families were hopeful that this event might bring researchers closer to finding a cure. Kevin Contardi said 84 cents of every dollar raised goes toward JDRF’s research.