Matthew Miller, fortunately, is not one of those cases, but he was a statistic last November when the then-17-year-old senior at DeMatha Caholic High School in Hyattsville was diagnosed with the disease. Matt was a standout goalkeeper for the Stags lacrosse team, and he had hopes of furthering his lacrosse career at the collegiate level.

Thanks to early detection, Matt will have the opportunity to follow his dream of playing college lacrosse.

"Matt was lifting weights one day and then felt a twinge," said his mother, Sarah, who acknowledged that most teenage boys will not be very likely to share such information. "Then he developed a cough so we took him to the doctor."

Boys are trained to suck it up, especially athletes, Mrs. Miller said. Because of Matt's diagnosis, the family created a nonprofit organization called Millerstrong, a piggyback of sorts of the Livestrong Lance Armstrong Foundation. Millerstrong is designed to raise money for the research and awareness of testicular cancer so that males ages 15 to 39, who are most often the ones afflicted by the disease, may learn how to detect the symptoms early enough to halt the cancer, which is 99 percent curable.

"The key is to know what normal is, so you know what is different," said Sarah, who noted that she has been approached by numerous mothers of teenage boys who say their child would never have come to them with concerns of that nature.

The first big event for Millerstrong is to celebrate lacrosse and the survivors of testicular cancer, but also to celebrate the lives lost to the disease. More than 60 NCAA Division I lacrosse players and coaches, as well as some Major League Lacrosse players, will be at Crofton Park on Defense Highway from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday for an all-staresque type of competition.

The event will be very loose and all who attend will be able to take in top notch lacrosse action with players from throughout the Eastern Seaboard. From noon to 12:45, fans will be able to gather on the field and toss the ball around with the college players. The actual game will begin around 1 p.m. and will be played in five periods.

Many lacrosse fans would naturally jump at the chance to be part of the game, and those fans will have the chance.

Raffle tickets to win an actual roster spot in the game are being sold online at www.millerstrong.com. Also on the Web site is an area for those who wish to donate to the cause. T-shirts can be purchased and donations up to $5,000 can be made via the site.

Tickets to the event can also be purchased at millerstrong.com. The price for admission is $5 in advance and $7 at the gate. For those who purchase tickets online, they may pick up their tickets at the will-call station on the day of the event. The good news: The event cannot sell out, so the more the merrier.

There is a lot of media attention being paid to the event. In addition to The Capital, television station Fox 5 News in Washington, D.C., and talk radio hosts the Sports Junkies, have jumped on board to promote the event, which will feature free Rita's Italian ices; free mini massages courtesy of the Robert Andrew Salon and Spa; lacrosse gear courtesy of Lax World in Annapolis, donated food from Safeway, and a moon bounce.

Matt needed only four months after his diagnosis to return to the lacrosse field for DeMatha. He helped the Stags win the WCAC lacrosse title and then committed to play for Drexel University in the fall - and the best news of all: Matt is officially cancer-free.

When someone purchases a ticket for the event, maybe a $5 raffle ticket for a roster spot in the game or even a $5 raffle ticket (or a book of five for $20) for the chance to win a weekend at one of two locales - the Eastern Shore or Rocky Gap Lodge and Golf Resort in Cumberland.

That money goes to the Belief Bank, funded by Millerstrong designed to help fund males diagnosed with testicular cancer to remain committed to treatment, which often involves surgery and chemotherapy. The inspiration for the fund, said Mrs. Miller, was her son's desire to attend his senior prom. But because of his treatment for cancer he was not able to work his part-time job to earn the $500 necessary to pay for all of the bells and whistles that come with prom.

"Our goal is to be able to raise their self esteem," said Mrs. Miller. "There are a lot of kids who feel alone, totally social kids, and then all of a sudden not going to prom or hanging with friends. Maybe the Belief Bank will help."

If last fall is any indication of what the Miller family can do to raise funds, then there is no telling what kind of effect the lacrosse game will have in raising money for The Belief Bank. Following his cancer diagnosis, Matt decided that because his family was not financially burdened by his brush with a serious illness, he wanted to use his situation to raise money for others. So in conjunction with Smokey Bones Barbeque and Grill in Bowie, the Millers raised $4,000 from meals to benefit an entertainment and education fund for Eastern Point Group Home for boys in Annapolis.

Lacrosse in the Annapolis-Crofton-Bowie corridor has ascended to unprecedented levels over the last half decade. Mitchellville Fields in Bowie and Bell Branch Park in Crofton, recently were home to the All Star Express girls tournament that was attended by more than 14,000 people and numberless college lacrosse scouts. Also held annually at Mitchellville Fields is the Southern Maryland Youth Lacrosse Association tournament hosted by Bowie Boys and Girls Club, and that event draws more than 5,000 attendees.