'Such a bright spirit': South Shore Charter honors legacy of late soccer star JJ Facey

WEYMOUTH – There were plenty of Number 7's sprinkled among the fans lining the fence at the Union Point Athletic Complex field.

No Number 7's on the field, though.

That's the way it will be from now on.

The South Shore Charter Public School boys soccer program officially retired the jersey number worn with great distinction by Jason "JJ" Facey Jr. on Monday. The Taunton resident was, as athletic director J.P. Marcellus put it, the Jaguars' GOAT (Greatest of All Time) – a three-year captain who had 22 assists in just nine league games last fall as a playmaking midfielder and was the school's first athlete to sign an NCAA letter of intent.

In a better, alternate timeline, Facey would have been there himself to be honored. But the 18-year-old Taunton resident – who loved soccer so much, his dad recalled, that he would juggle toilet paper rolls with his feet if a ball wasn't nearby – died on Aug. 19, struck down by a previously undetected heart ailment after soccer practice at Framingham State University, where he was a freshman.

In a poignant postgame ceremony following a 6-0 win over Academy of the Pacific Rim, South Shore Charter coach John Oliva told the crowd: "We had a Number 7. There won't be another one."

The Norwell-based school usually doesn't draw big crowds for weekday afternoon games far from campus. But this was the exception as dozens and dozens of well-wishers, including members of the girls soccer team, trickled in throughout the day to pay tribute to Facey. Many wore commemorative black T-shirts with his familiar No. 7 on the back – also on the back was written "Long Live JJ"; on the front was a photo of Facey dribbling a soccer ball, along with the words "be happy!"

"It's overwhelming, the amount of people that have come out for him," said JJ's mom, Melissa, a graduate of Fontbonne Academy in Milton. "He touched so many lives, as you can see."

"It's monumental for us," agreed JJ's dad, Jason Facey, who attended Blue Hills Regional in Canton. "It doesn't heal the loss, but to have him memorialized and honored, it's very special to us."

The Facey family, including JJ's younger sister Jalysa, a junior at Taunton High, lived in Brockton for 15 years before moving to Taunton three years ago. Their mission now, in the wake of tragedy, is to promote awareness of HOCM ( hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy ) – a condition that causes the muscle tissues of the heart to thicken and is a significant cause of sudden cardiac death in young people such as JJ.

According to the American Heart Association web site: "It’s estimated that as many as 1 in every 500 young people in the United States have HCM, but a large percentage of people are undiagnosed. Of those diagnosed, it is estimated that two-thirds have obstructive HCM and one-third have non-obstructive HCM."

It's a treatable problem, but Jason Facey said the condition doesn't get red-flagged on a routine physical, the kind that all high school athletes in the state have to undergo in order to get cleared for competition. He would like to see that change.

"The fact is that we don't have records on the hearts of our children," he said. "There could be many children out here (playing sports) with heart conditions that we don't know about. And if one of them were to fall and have a degraded quality of life or even be fatal, just like my son, it would be a tragedy. But it would only end up as a statistic. My child is now a statistic (but) it's not a statistic when it's your child."

At last check, the Faceys' GoFundMe site had raised more than $50,000. The family is hoping to turn that money into a foundation to try to encourage the state to mandate testing for HOCM.

"I don't want another child to fall from a treatable condition when we have the resources in the state of Massachusetts (to screen kids)," Jason Facey said. "We've always led the way in terms of changing health laws in the country. So why are we ignoring our children? Why are we putting things of monetary value over our children? We have more records on cars, houses, deeds, lost money (than we have) on the hearts of our children."

Jason Facey said that over the next few months the family "expects to be out raising awareness in different venues, different sporting facilities, different events, different leagues," including a potential event with the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer.

Everyone at South Shore Charter is now keenly aware of what HOCM can do.

"Such a bright spirit," Oliva said of JJ Facey. "Big smile, friendly, positive. A hard worker. He was incredibly kind. There were a couple of students who spoke at his (funeral) services who said that when they first came to school – you know, when you come to a new school you're very nervous – and JJ was the very first one to say, 'Hi, welcome. Come sit here.' It's such a hard loss, not only for the program but for everyone who knew him."

"At first I just knew him as a soccer player, but then it grew into something much deeper," said current Jaguars senior captain Alexander Clement, who lives in East Bridgewater. "He became my friend. I looked up to him. He always kept motivating me. He was my hero in terms of soccer. I was really glad that I met him, and I'm really sad that we lost him. I'm captain (now) and I'm just doing my best to honor him."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: 'Such a bright spirit': South Shore Charter honors legacy of late soccer star JJ Facey