Patriot cheerleader honors late Coach Sormanti with Barks & Bubbles

By ADAM ZANGARI

Ruff Riders, located at 317 Bald Hill Road, will host Barks and Bubbles- A Paw Wash for a Cure as part of Heather Santoro’s campaign for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Visionary of the Year.

Santoro, a Cranston native and cheerleader for the New England Patriots from 2010 through 2014, will be cleaning and taking photos with dogs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 4. Current Patriots cheerleaders will also be at the event from 12 to 2. Tickets are $35, and will get one dog a complete wash, dry, bandana, dog treat and professional photos.

The Visionary of the Year campaign began on March 7 and runs through May 16. Santoro is one of ten nominees from Rhode Island.

Inspiration for Santoro’s fundraising comes from Tracy Sormanti of Warwick, Santoro’s coach when with the Patriots. Sormanti passed away in 2020 after a battle with multiple myeloma.

Santoro said Sormanti pushed her and her fellow cheerleaders to their absolute limit.  Santoro compared Sormanti to her football counterpart, Bill Belichick. However, Santoro came to realize that that was because Sormanti believed that everyone she worked with had limitless potential.

“She left us with something that I’ve printed out and put on my refrigerator, because it’s something that’s just super important to me and driving me in this competition,” Santoro said, recalling Sormanti’s quote. “It comes from my solid trust that your potential is limitless. I don't think many of you even realize it yet. Always continue to do better because you have the potential to do so.”

Santoro first found out about Sormanti’s diagnosis in 2017. Three years later, she and other Patriots cheerleaders received a message from her, explaining that her situation had significantly worsened.

It was devastating news for Santoro, who considered her a great friend and mentor from the moment they first met.

“From the moment I walked into the room, she just made me feel so calm and confident and excited about our conversation,” Santoro said. “I still remember what we first discussed outside of our normal formal interview questions. We had a very casual conversation about her love for cats, but also, where you can buy the best jeans. I can still remember her laugh.”

Santoro isn’t the first Patriots cheerleader to be nominated for Visionary of the Year. Lasondra Pontarelli won the LLS’s Woman of the Year award in 2022- the award is no longer split by gender.

Pontarelli nominated Santoro this year, in order to “keep it in the cheerleading circle.”

To raise money, Santoro decided on a paw wash, something that she had done previously with the Patriots. She knew the owner of Ruff RIders, Olivia Bruen, through a high school friend, and quickly got in contact to see if she’d be interested in hosting an event. Bruen was immediately on board.

“It’s exciting that not only am I able to continue to honor Tracy with an event that I know she would have loved to have been a part of if she was still with us, but I also get to stay connected to my Cranston folks, even though it’s taking place in Warwick,” Santoro said.

Winning the Visionary of the Year competition, Santoro said, would be an incredible honor.

Her real goal, though, is raising $50,000. With that money, she would be able to start a cancer research portfolio in Sormanti’s name.

“We don’t know what that research could contribute to, but it’s research being done in her name, and so it’s a way for her to continue to change people’s lives, even though she’s no longer with us” Santoro said. “Everyone’s been affected in some way, shape or form by cancer, so to have this research move us forward, it would mean the world.”

Keeping Sormanti’s memory alive, Santoro said, is nothing short of an honor.

“She really helped me discover where I wanted to be in life,” Santoro said. “It opened up opportunities for me that I could have never imagined. She really reshaped the trajectory of my life, and in addition to that, was just a great friend.”

Anyone looking to donate to Santoro’s campaign can do so at www.heathershuddleofhope.com.