Audiences at Kirkwood sporting events all have one thing in common: stuffed bleachers filled with a sea of red. However, one night for the past six years there has been a sea of pink in the bleachers when the girls’ varsity volleyball team hosts their annual Pink Out game to support Breast Cancer Awareness.
The team played the official Pink Out game Oct. 1 against Francis Howell. KHS lost 2-0, (25-13, 25-16) despite a late comeback in the second match. There was a great crowd turnout supporting the team as well as the cause. The game was significant as last year Francis Howell made it to state and Kirkwood won districts. The game, however, was a side-story for a greater cause on this date.
The team sold 550 pink t-shirts and raised more than $2,500 for the support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Head girls’ varsity volleyball coach Julie Goodmann founded the annual Pink Out game during her second year at KHS, 2006, as a result of one player’s mother being diagnosed with breast cancer. Goodmann seized the opportunity and organized a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness.
“I thought that we needed to give back to the community,” Goodmann said, who also started the fundraiser because Breast Cancer awareness month coincides with the girls’ volleyball season. “So we do it through breast cancer awareness.”
A local organization, Making Strides American Cancer Society, holds a Walk/Run at the end of October. The team does not participate in the Walk/Run, but all of the money raised by the team is donated to the organization.
“It’s just good to know the money goes to a good cause,” Mary Catherine Brown, freshman volleyball player, said.
Breast cancer is the second most common form of cancer among American women. About one in eight American women will develop it in their lifetime.
“All of our money goes toward making strides against breast cancer, and we have definitely taken it to a new level this year,” Goodmann said.
The volleyball team utilizes the t-shirt sales as a way to donate money to the cause. But the game is a way to raise both awareness as well as money.
“It is fun to see the Pink Out in the stands,” Megan Hellwege, volleyball player, said. “It reminds you that you are playing for something much greater than just Kirkwood volleyball.”
