When it’s thought of as only a room, it’s not so bad. There are around 50 padded reclining chairs. Fish tanks. Lots of windows to let enough light in. And numerous big-screen TVs, all working together to somehow distract from the strong chemicals entering people’s veins in nearby chairs.
But the diversions didn’t work for Scott Paravicini and his wife, Amber.
They noticed the thinning hair. And the pigmentation changes or the breakouts, referred to commonly as “Chemo Rash,” spreading across already weathered skin — all reminders that a 32-year-old shouldn’t be there.
A few weeks ago, an older gentleman even voiced the couple’s thoughts.
“You’re too young to come in here,” he said. “You need to turn around.”
“I wish I could,” Paravicini replied.
But in January, months after finishing his second season as Lakewood Ranch’s head football coach, Amber forced Paravicini to go to the emergency room after a “particularly bad day.” Most doctors said he was not old enough to have cancer, suggesting that it was likely Crohn’s disease or an ulcer. But following his colonoscopy, a groggy Paravicini was wheeled into a room with his wife and “the doctor that won’t come out and see you unless your result is bad.”
He was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer that had spread to his lymph nodes.
“It’s not fair,” Paravicini said. “But whatever is going to happen is going to happen. I got faith in myself. I got faith in God. I’m putting my faith in the doctors and everything is going to work out how it’s supposed to be…I just got to get through the process of whatever it is and do the best job that I can do.”
So, he began what he describes as the “hurry up and wait game,” scheduling appointments and surgeries, and urging them to come between teaching and prepping for spring football.
In 90-degree heat, Paravicini still coaches, only now there’s a chemo port in his chest. Instead of ice-cold Gatorades, his preferred way to drink them, Paravicini lets them bake in the sun because his immunotherapy treatments — that will last four weeks into the football season — cause cold sensitivity. His hair is thinning. Sometimes, he’s nauseous, and he takes more naps than he used to, but he’s quick to say that in terms of chemo symptoms, he’s been “pretty blessed.”
Paravicini is the recipient of The Herald Tribune’s courage award, which he will receive at the 2026 Sarasota-Manatee High School Sports Awards on Tuesday, May 26, at The Ora.
And while it’s easier to find more positives now, Paravicini let his mind wander in those first few weeks.
Colon cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in Americans under the age of 50, according to the Cancer Research Institute. So, there were thoughts about the daily life changes: Could he still coach football? Could he keep working? And then the unthinkable. He has two daughters, a 5-year-old and a 1-year-old. Would he have the opportunity to see them graduate?
“It was tough for a little bit until you start to get some good news,” Paravicini said, later adding. “That was probably my low point. Since then has been good news for me. I haven’t really had the thought anymore that the inevitable can happen. We all know that can happen at some point, but when you get hit with that, it kind of maybe speeds the process up. So, I think now, my wife, my kids, me, my family, we’ve all kind of leaned more into it.”
Scott Paravicini continues to answer to life
In February, he gathered his players in the locker room and told them the news, but not in the way players expected.
“He told us the part where he had cancer,” junior Kamarion Jones said. “He was making jokes, but I was serious. You’re going through cancer, and you’re making jokes? But that just showed he’s in a great spirit. He’s fighting. He’s not quitting.”
Before chemo, Amber acts almost like a sports reporter, filming an interview with Paravicini before he goes into the room.
She asks what his thoughts are heading into today. How he’s feeling. She plans to compile them at the end of his treatment to hopefully help someone else.
“It’s OK to be scared, but at the same time, just try to smile and stay really positive,” Amber said. “We both believe mindset is everything, especially coming from sports.”
During one chemotherapy round, Amber remembers sitting with Paravicini, as she always does, and seeing a woman wearing a pair of Rapunzel-themed Brooks, featuring laces that resemble the princess’s blonde hair and her chameleon friend, Pascal.
She told Paravicini she thought they were cute, and he urged her to tell the patient. It made the woman smile.
“It’s a horrible thing,” Amber said. “You don’t ever wish to talk through those doors, especially holding your husband’s hand as he’s about to get the treatment. But it’s just a huge perspective of his viewpoint in life. You can either walk in and cry and be really sorrowful about it. Or we’re just going to make the most of this, and that’s where he’s steered us.”
Another time, Scott made it a point to tell a nurse who often brings around snacks and drinks that he liked her earrings. She shared that the jewelry was a gift from her daughter.
“It’s a depressing room, and I try to not make it depressing when I’m in there,” Paravicini said. “I’m not a big talker to random people. Once you get to know me, I share everything. But that’s something I’ve tried to kind of branch out a little bit. Some people want to talk. Some people don’t, but it makes the time go by quicker.”
Paravicini continued to lean into the things that he’d overlooked as life became busier.
Sometimes, coaching could feel overwhelming. Staff and kids look to him for answers. Now, it’s only relief.
“I’ve got my own problems,” Paravicini said. “I told them I get to hang up everything for two hours a day, and not think about it, and come out here and look at them.”
So, even after hours in the heat, Paravicini will still do his routine in the huddle, calling individual players to come in the middle and answer a question on the spot about anything. What’s the team goal? Who’s your favorite teammate? His logic is that life forces people to answer to it, and he wants his players to know what to say.
Scott Paravicini lives life in the fast lane
Growing up, Paravicini’s dad raced stock cars. He was always at the racetrack, something that continued through college. As he became older, Scott learned how to work on them. But over the last couple of years, he stopped.
Amber gives horseback riding lessons, and Paravicini learned one of the children’s parents had a BMW built for endurance racing. So, with their blessing, he signed up for a race at the Freedom Factory in March. Without anything besides his memories growing up, Scott placed ninth out of 36. He said he became better with each lap.
“When I pulled out to the track, and we’re all sitting there, and I’m thinking to myself like, ‘What did I get myself into?’” Scott said. “But when the green flag waved, it was like all that worry left your mind, and it was probably the most fun I’ve ever had.”
He has another race on May 23.
Outside of his family and football life, he’s working with his doctor, Riva Das, to advocate for earlier screenings.
“I’m 32 years old, and they don’t start scanning for colon cancer until 45,” Paravicini said. “And colon cancer is one of the most preventable cancers, as long as you get the screening done.”
So, the once-not-big-talker now plans to go on local television soon to share his story.
Paravicini often laughs when people treat what he’s doing as special. He’s been asked why he’s continued to coach, not stepping back despite his illness.
But what’s the alternative?
Early in his diagnosis, some of the worst days came from wondering what he would get to see and do. Some of the best have come from refusing to wait.
“Yes, I’m not going to feel good some days, and, yes, things are going to be a bit different,” Paravicini said. “But I don’t want our lives to be different just because I’m going through something.”
So, Paravicini will continue to race the BMW when he can. And in an otherwise depressing room, he’ll continue to find something to say to the person beside him.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Lakewood Ranch’s Scott Paravicini coaching football through cancer