The West Alabama softball team will kick off its annual Friends of Jaclyn Weekend on Saturday when the Tigers host Shorter in a Gulf South Conference doubleheader at the UWA Softball Complex. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.

“Team Ella” game day t-shirts will be available for sell to the public for $17. The profits will go to benefit the Foundation.

The Friends of Jaclyn Foundation is a national non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for children batting pediatric brain tumors.

Admission is $5 for adults. Children 10 and under, as well as UWA students with valid IDs will be admitted free. Donations will also be accepted with all proceeds going to the FOJ Foundation.

The UWA softball team adopted Ella Norris as an honorary member of the team in March 2010, in support of the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation.

FOJ’s slogan is “Live in the Moment! Play in the Moment!” FOJ has completed 382 adoptions in 25 different male and female sports at the college and junior college level. Ella was the second child paired in the state of Alabama at the time and is a true inspiration to the Tiger family.

The Foundation was inspired by Jaclyn Murphy who was diagnosed with a medulloblastoma, a malignant brain tumor, in March 2004 when she was nine-years-old. Jaclyn’s strength and courage, relentless spirit, and joy for life are an inspiration to those who know her. Jaclyn’s wish is “for all the children in the hospitals to be healed.”

It is one of the foundation’s goals for Jaclyn to be able to continue to touch people with her story. The foundation is committed to its mission of improving the quality of life for children and their families battling pediatric brain tumors,” Denis Murphy, Jaclyn’s father and FOJ Founder.

Jaclyn, now 19, attends Marist College where she is studying sports communications. She plans to continue her work with the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation to improve the quality of life for children battling this insidious disease through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation.

Jaclyn’s wish is for every child with a brain tumor to be able to be adopted onto a team of their own and get the love, support and friendship from their own teammates. For more information, please visit friendsofjaclyn.org/.

The weekend will conclude with game three of the series on Sunday at 2 p.m.