When you watch October football at all levels from Pop Warner to the Pros, you see pink, from socks to jerseys, gloves to shoes, the sport has taken on raising breast cancer awareness. I am asking that my brothers and sisters in the track & field world do the same at our meets held the week of April 13th through the 18th. All of us have been touched by this deadly disease in some way, and we as a community need to stand together and not only raise awareness, but funds to help put an end to this plight.
Recently, a local woman who has spent much of the past decade, giving her time, effort, and energy, to helping area youth in the sport of track & field, was diagnosed for the second time with breast cancer. She has had a mastectomy, and is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments. I thought about reaching out to the teams that will attend the meet that her son will participate in on April 17th, but decided that this battle is better fought with many soldiers. I am asking that we as coaches put aside our potential “uniform violations" and encourage our athletes to wear their pink during that week. Those that are administrating the meet, we ask that you show your support with pink ribbons or shirts on officials, pink finish line tape, or a pink sleeve for the starter. You are also the real key to the fundraising, as a simple donation collection at the entry point of the meet, would be a great. Sell pink lemonade at the concession stand, and donate the proceeds to the fight.
Our friends at Kansas Milesplit have graciously agreed to help support our “pink out". They are not only helping to spread the word, but will feature submitted photos and stories on their state websites. Please follow up with encouraging all attendees to submit photos. We encourage this to reach across all lines, we would like grade school through professional participation.
Cancer sucks! I lost both my mother and
step-mother to the disease 53 weeks apart, when I was a very young man. These
two ladies did more to support me in my participation in the sport, than
anybody else on this earth. We all know that life would not be the same for any
of us, without people like them. Let's take that week to make sure that we are
doing everything in our power to stop this disease from taking another mother,
father, sibling, grandparent, relative, friend, or coach.