LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville City FC has added a new player to their roster for a one-game contract in partnership with Norton Children’s.
Eight-year-old Drew Esposito, better known as “Super Drew,” is a force to be reckoned with on the pitch and why the club locked him down before another team got the chance.
“I like it because you have to run around and kick the ball and score because there’s people chasing you. You have to kick the ball and try to keep the ball and score in the net,” Drew Esposito said.
It’s just one of several reasons why he was given the nickname “Super Drew.”
“So Drew was diagnosed Christmas Eve 2018 with medulloblastoma, which is a grade four glioma. It’s a very serious, cancerous brain tumor,” Drew’s dad, Jeremy Esposito, said. “He went from not being able to walk, talk, drink or anything to playing with USL players out here on the practice pitch.”
Super Drew spent over 150 days in the Addison Jo Blair Cancer Care Center at Norton Children’s Hospital before being released in August 2019. Drew has had clean scans for 30 months.
Drew’s resilience caught the eye of Louisville City FC’s head coach, Danny Cruz.
“We’ll see from a physical standpoint, I’ve heard he’s pretty fast like I said but honestly, most importantly, he’s an inspiration,” Cruz said.
Since putting pen to paper, Super Drew will wear the #7 kit, have access to the club facilities and locker room, and, like his contract says, “the good vibes associated with joining the USL Championship’s best team.”
“For all the stuff that he went through when he was at Norton’s, nothing could ever make any of that better,” J. Esposito said. “To be able to come out here and do this kind of stuff with him and have these one of a kind experiences, I mean these are memories he’s going to have forever.”
Adding another boy in purple to the squad and Coach Cruz wouldn’t have it any other way.
“He’ll be in the locker room with me before the game, when I adjust the players one minute before they walk out to the field and I think it’s going to be a special moment for him,” Cruz said.
You can catch Super Drew on Saturday at 8 p.m. when Louisville City FC hosts the Charleston Battery where, on his behalf, Norton Childrens will provide 1,000 complimentary capes to other children at the game.
Drew will also be recognized at the half as Norton Children’s “Superhero of the Game,” a fan-favorite opportunity to recognize those living life to the fullest despite obstacles in their way.