COLUMBIA, S.C. — A former Gamecock is doing everything he can to honor his late friend and former teammate.
USC grad and former Cardinal Newman standout Jacob August held the first-ever Park-Breh 7-on-7 Invitational on Saturday in honor of his former teammate Parker DuBois, who passed away in January after struggling with mental health.
All the proceeds earned will go towards former Gamecock Hayden Hurst’s Foundation, which focuses on raising awareness on mental health.
“We’re also creating some programs to give back to the state for some mental health problems to help kids become better adults.” August said..
Since DuBois’ passing, his family have dedicated their lives to raising awareness on mental health.
“We just want to get the awareness for suicide which took his life out there and it’s just been a mission that we’ve been on.” says Camille DuBois, Parker’s Mother, “It is wonderful that Jacob did this to honor Parker and to get that stigma off of suicide and get that awareness out there.”
August is hopeful that the event will help give young athletes a foundation when it comes to understanding mental health and mental illness.
“I think back in the day especially with young male adults, you couldn’t talk about it, now we want everyone to talk about it because when you talk about it, it helps you say your problems out loud and that can create solutions.” August said.
August plans to do the 7-on-7 tournament again next year and he’s looking to include high school teams from across the Midlands in the tournament.