Knights remain Skinner Strong
The UCF Baseball program honored the life of former commit Joe Skinner on Friday night, but if he were to have his way, the attention would surely go elsewhere.
After Skinner was diagnosed with hypodiploid acute lymphoblastic leukemia in December 2015, he had an opportunity to have a wish granted from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. However, he turned it down because he thought another kid should have that chance instead.
“That’s just the kind of way he was,” friend Dallas Beaver said. “So when we’re able to raise money for other kids, you know that’s what he would want.”
This is the second straight year that the Knights are pairing with the SkinnerStrong Foundation for “Joe Skinner Knight.” The campaign is more than just a one-night occurrence, as players and coaches began fundraising efforts in late March.
Last year, the team raised $33,000 for Florida Hospital’s pediatric cancer department. This year, the team has raised $24,233. UCF coach Greg Lovelady never had the chance to meet Skinner, who passed away in April 2016. However, he said that the campaign serves as a chance to help others while also honoring Joe and his family.
“We’re here for a reason. The reasons aren’t selfish,” Lovelady said. “God has put us here to give back and give to people in need. I believe that I have a platform to try to make sure these kids spend the rest of their lives living by that.”
Back when Skinner was diagnosed, friends and classmates at Bishop Moore High School started the “Skinner Strong” movement by selling wristbands. The baseball program later named a senior award in his honor and named its upgraded field after him — signified by an archway.
In addition to the support from Bishop Moore, the continuous efforts of Lovelady and his players to keep Skinner’s memory alive has meant a lot to his family.
“It’s special. You don’t realize what an impact your kids have on other people until something happens,” said Joe’s mother, Judy Skinner. “… They say you can tell a lot about a person by the people they surround themselves with. They all loved Joe. That they still want to keep us in their lives says a lot about him.”
Skinner’s talent on the field earned him offensive player of the year, MVP and all-area honors as a junior in high school. But his mother knows that there was far more to Joe than baseball.
“Everybody knew he was a good baseball player, but I think a lot of people also knew the character he had,” she said.
His friends can attest to that. His would-be roommates — Beaver, Rylan Thomas and Joe Sheridan — all have ways to honor their friend’s memory. Beaver, who met Skinner at his first big baseball tryout, wears Joe’s No. 38.
“It’s a daily reminder every single time I put the jersey on,” he said. “When I’m in the locker room, knowing it’s a locker room he should be in, knowing it’s the jersey he should be putting on… it means a lot to me to be able to wear it.”
Thomas and Sheridan, who both got to know Skinner through travel ball, both have tattoos with the date of their friend’s death as well as the words “Skinner Strong.”