KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Dec. 13, 2024) – Christine Roehling, who founded The Beat Goes On Foundation to assist families who are experiencing issues with heart transplants for children, has been named the 2024 recipient of the Jerry Yeagley Award for Exceptional Personal Achievement. She will be honored during the annual All-America Ceremony on Saturday, January 11, 2025, in conjunction with the 85th United Soccer Coaches Convention in Chicago, Ill.
The award is presented to a former collegiate soccer student-athlete who has demonstrated extraordinary accomplishments and service beyond the sport itself. The award is named in honor of the legendary Indiana University men’s soccer coach (1973-2003) who won 544 games and captured six NCAA championships.
Roehling, a 2006 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, was a four-year letterwinner as a goalkeeper for the Titans.
In 2016, Christine and Dan Roehling’s lives changed forever. Their 13-month-old twin girls needed heart transplants due to a rare heart defect. They both had successful heart transplants and since then Christine and her husband have impacted Children’s Hospital and the heart world in so many positive ways.
Shortly after their twins had their heart transplants, they started The Beat Goes On Foundation in looking to make what was their experience better for others. The goal of The Beat Goes On Foundation is to turn heart transplantation into a cure through funding the latest transplant research, supporting children and families who have been diagnosed with heart disease and defects, and inspire our community to act towards improving the quality of life of children living with heart disease.
Since its inception in 2016, the foundation has been honored to donate over $250,000 in funding for research projects at both Children’s Wisconsin and the Versiti Blood Research Institute to further transplant research and positively impact outcomes for solid organ transplant patients.
Also, they have many events throughout the year to raise money and awareness from Thanksgiving Pies, Giving Tuesday, and Toy Drives. Everything is dedicated to quality-of-life initiatives for patients and families being cared for by the amazing Herma Heart Institute at Children’s Wisconsin. They have collected and donated over $50,000 in toys and goodies to patients and families.
Christine and her husband run this foundation to help others while having their own careers and raising their own three children.
Roehling also has faced a breast cancer scare of her own in 2020. She is a survivor and most recently completed a first ever Triathlon with Team Phoenix, an organization that redefines survivorship.
Christine has used battles in her life as foundations to create and do something even bigger for those around her. She has been a leader in her community in so many ways.