Tara Davies can always spot her parents in the stands at her soccer games. Since she was 8 years old, at least one of them traveled to watch her.
This weekend, their presence at both of her games will mean something extra special.
Davies' mother, Patty, was diagnosed with melanoma, or skin cancer, in her foot about a month ago. Patty hasn't let the cancer stifle the support of her daughter.
Patty and her husband Butch will fly to St. Paul, Minn., and drive to Madison, Wis., to watch the Penn State women's soccer team take on Minnesota and Wisconsin this weekend.
"She just doesn't let anything stand in her way," said Tara, a starting outside defender on the Lions team. "She's really being a trooper right now. There's nothing stopping her. She's going to come no matter what."
Patty received the telephone call with her diagnosis while lodging at a hotel in University Park for the Lions' match vs. Rutgers. The Davieses still stayed to watch the game and held out telling Tara until afterward.
Tara got a call from her father telling her the news.
"He told me, and I kind of was silent for a second," Tara said. "I got off the phone and tried to relax and organize my thoughts."
The senior defender researched the disease and then talked with her mother.
Tara's mother retired from teaching in the Wildwood, N.J., education system after 37 years -- primarily to watch Tara play in her final season of collegiate soccer.
The Davies' haven't missed a game, home or away, in the last two seasons.
"For the girl, like the commercial says, it's priceless," Patty said.
Making it to this game, though, will come with a few extra obstacles. Total support from the team and from team parents have made life easier for the Davies.
Butch said Lion coach Erica Walsh called him on Thursday to make sure they were still planning on flying out to watch the games. Walsh arranged for easy-access parking for the Davies' vehicle and ensured an elevator would bring Patty up to the press box of Minnesota's soccer stadium to watch the game.
At last week's home match against Iowa, a group of parents carried Patty down from the bleachers, despite Patty's usual resistance to be waited on by others.
"I think I'm very blessed and my husband has really, really helped me," Patty said. "I'm kind of slow doing stuff. I wish I could just jump up and do it. I am a do'er."
Despite having a full cast on her foot, the Davies trekked five hours to Penn State from Cape May Court House, N.J., to watch Penn State last weekend. After the game, Butch and Tara helped Patty walk to the family car, which dons an assortment of Penn State soccer magnets.
Even when Tara was 8 years old, the Davies traveled all over New Jersey to make sure Tara had a chance to develop as a soccer player. Patty and Butch drove Tara an hour and a half, two times a week, to practice in Mount Laurel, N.J. Even with two older sons children practicing soccer, the Davies ensured Tara made every event.
When Tara was a freshman in 2006, the Davies traveled a total of 14 hours on the weekend to watch the Division III men's and Division I women's soccer tournaments, to watch Ryan and Tara play in the Elite 8. Ryan, Tara's older brother, played soccer for York College from 2002-2006.
"We'll figure a way to pay it all off later on," Patty joked.
The dedication these self-professed "soccer parents" have for their children isn't new.
But with Patty's unfortunate illness, which she said she was given a 90 percent chance of beating, Patty certainly considers herself lucky to be able to watch her daughter to do what she loves.
"I'm going through my last season of playing, and they're still there watching me," Tara said. "That's how lucky I consider myself. You realize most parents aren't like that."
