Torrey Pines Lacrosse adopts child fighting cancer as forever teammate

This is the team’s fourth adopted teammate through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation

By Karen Billing | KarenB@rsfreview.com | The San Diego Union-Tribune
PUBLISHED: April 21, 2026 at 6:47 AM PDT

Now wearing Torrey Pines High School Lacrosse number one, eight-year-old Grayson Charity has a full team of players behind him as he battles cancer.

Last week, the lacrosse team formalized their adoption of Grayson through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to improve the quality of life for children with cancer, pairing them up with a sports team to provide love, support and friendship. This is Coach Jono Zissi and the Torrey Pines’ program’s 15th year in their relationship with Friends of Jaclyn and their fourth adoption.

Jose Montaño, the team’s first adoptee in 2011, passed away in 2014 at the age of 13 but he is a forever Falcon teammate and the Montaño family is forever linked to Torrey Pines.

The team held a formal adoption and signing day ceremony on April 16 in the school’s lecture hall before lacrosse practice. Grayson, a Mira Mesa resident, received his official Falcons jersey and signed his contract sitting at a special table, wearing a Torrey Pines hat, in front of a big poster that read “Our newest teammate Grayson Charity….Welcome to TP LAX.”

The contract spelled out that Grayson is an honorary member of the Falcons and also memorializes the team’s commitment to being a support system for Grayson.

“We talk about gratitude every day with our kids and try to focus on something bigger than ourselves,” said Zissi.

The Friends of Jaclyn founder and CEO Denis Murphy flew out from New York to be a part of the special ceremony. Murphy has been running the nonprofit for 22 years, with just over 1,300 kids adopted by Division 1, 2 and 3 colleges, junior college and high school teams.

“There isn’t a team I won’t find for a sick kid,” Murphy said

Led by Zissi, Torrey Pines is the first institution that has adopted four kids, just ahead of Johns Hopkins University and High Point University, which have each adopted three.

“I think that speaks to the leadership here at Torrey Pines,” said Murphy. “I’ve been around a lot of coaches over the years…I don’t care what your logo is, I don’t care what your division is, I don’t care what your sport is. Leaders develop young men and women to go out into the world and make a difference.”

“Jono is the epitome of leadership. His presence, what he’s instilling in these players here, they are bigger winners off the field than they are on it.

Friends of Jaclyn was inspired by Murphy’s daughter, a nine-year-old lacrosse player in New York who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in 2004.

Given a devastating 30% chance to live, while she was undergoing treatment she formed an uplifting personal connection with the Northwestern University lacrosse team. As much as the team supported Jaclyn, her courage and spirit inspired them—the team went undefeated that season and went on to win their first National Championship in 64 years, the beginning of a seven-year championship run.

One day when Jaclyn was being treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, she was on the phone with some of the players when another young girl patient overheard and asked about her special friends and teammates.

“The ninth floor at Memorial Sloan Kettering is the saddest place on the planet, because you have the good doctors, caregivers and nurses there helping these children with the beast that is 24-7, 365 attacking them, it doesn’t sleep. Cancer doesn’t sleep,” Murphy recalled.

When the girl left to receive treatment, Jaclyn turned to her father: “Dad, you gotta get her a team.”

That request set off Murphy’s mission for the adopt-a-child program.

While others, like special guest at Torrey Pines Dr. Anindya Bagchi, a pediatric cancer researcher at Sanford Burnham Prebys, are focused on tomorrow and finding a cure, Friends of Jaclyn is focused on today, ensuring that no child feels left out and can still be part of a team. The team creates a special bond too, with players gaining invaluable perspective—a tough loss or an injury doesn’t seem as bad when you know an eight year old who is fighting to beat cancer with everything they’ve got.

Of the 1,300 children Friends of Jaclyn has adopted, they have lost 308—Murphy’s heart was heavy that day as they had lost a little girl in St. Louis the night before.

The inspiration, Jaclyn is now 31 years old and doing well. Denis said the Murphy family lives for three special letters: N.E.D., which means the positive and hopeful report of “No Evidence of Disease” on Jaclyn’s annual MRI.

On April 16, the Falcons learned more about their newest teammate Grayson from his father Kevin.

Grayson was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in December of 2024. Always an active kid who played baseball, lacrosse and soccer, he was in first grade when he started feeling pain in his legs. First dismissed as growing pains, it became a parent’s worst nightmare with the diagnosis. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is among the most common childhood cancers and is considered highly curable, Kevin said the treatment process is a long one and Grayson still has another two to three years to go.

Since being diagnosed, he has gone through several different treatment phases and hospital stays, including getting chemotherapy four times a week. Kevin said Grayson has his moments when he gets sad or scared with all he has to go through.

“What I admire about him is he’s really tough,” said Kevin. “He’s still one of the happiest kids I know.”

Since March he has been back in school and he is back playing little league baseball—now he is part of the Falcon team for life. After signing his contract, he held his new jersey up with a big smile.

Jose Montaño, father of forever Falcon Jose, spoke about how grateful he is to have been part of the Torrey Pines family since 2011. He said it was beautiful to see the team’s support for Jose while he was undergoing treatment—he and his wife always knew Jose would be happy if he knew his friends were going to be there for him in the hospital.

“We needed something like that in my family, so I am forever grateful to the Torrey Pines community,” Montaño said. “It’s built on love, supporting each other, helping out, volunteering, mentoring.”

Over the years he and his family have gotten to know every Torrey Pines class, the players served as role models for not only Jose but his other children. They attend Falcons games and every year the program gives back by supporting the Jose Montaño Foundation’s annual walk and holiday toy drive. Jose started the toy drive at Rady Children’s hematology-oncology unit when he was still a patient himself.

“Very few people are people who create a legacy…Denis and Friends of Jaclyn, Jono and my son Jose created a legacy. The most important thing about legacy in my heart it means even though the person who created that legacy Is not here anymore, the legacy will continue forever,” Montaño told the room full of players. “The work that you do, the work that Jose started and that we have continued is so important because it makes a difference.”