CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- All nine America East member schools participated in the Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association’s (WBCA) “Think Pink” Initiative that saw over 1,100 schools take part from around the country throughout the month of February. The efforts included everything from raising thousands of dollars for health care organizations, to honoring breast cancer survivors, to wearing pink warm-ups, uniforms and shoelaces.
The “Think Pink” initiative is a global, unified effort for the WBCA’s nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. The week set aside for this year’s initiative was February 8 - 17, however many teams participated outside of that window due to scheduling conflicts.
The nine America East teams spread their selected games between February 9-February 23. Over 13,000 fans attended the selected “Think Pink” games and many more watched on their computers and on their televisions. Three of the games chosen to promote breast cancer awareness were broadcast live on the internet in the America East PackCasts and are also archived for viewing anytime at www.AmericaEast.com.
The initiative also crossed beyond women’s basketball into both men’s basketball and ice hockey. The University of Vermont men’s basketball team participated to help raise money for the Vermont Cancer Center in a game televised live on New England Sports Network against Boston University on February 14. The attendance reached 2,688 in Patrick Gymnasium for the men’s game. University of Maine women’s basketball teamed up with the school’s women’s ice hockey team and it’s “Skating Strides Against Breast Cancer” campaign in association with the Women’s Hockey East Association. The Black Bears’ fundraising efforts went towards Caring Connections, a local resource organization in Orono.
Vermont, Boston University and the University of New Hampshire gave away t-shirts to fans to promote the pink theme. The promotion created a sea of pink in the bleachers in each gymnasium to set the mood for the afternoon or night.
Other schools invited breast cancer survivors to directly participate in the games. Boston University honored a survivor by having her sing the National Anthem prior to the game, while University at Albany included honorees in their pre-game huddle and line-up introductions. The governor of Connecticut, M. Jodi Rell, attended Hartford’s “Think Pink” game as a survivor herself, and took the time to discuss the campaign and its fight against the disease on the radio during halftime. Survivors and key supporters of the cause were recognized and treated as VIPs at Stony Brook University and could be found sitting courtside.
Education was a prominent theme used by schools. Binghamton University’s partnership with local hospitals is a great example of how several of the schools reached out to health care and resource organizations to provide information on breast cancer treatment to fans attending games. Exhibits and booths were set up at many arenas’ concourses and the Bearcats invited a mobile mammogram van to gameday outside the arena.
UMBC receives the award for participating in the most “Think Pink” events. Besides hosting their own pink game on February 9, the Retrievers kept out their pink shooting shirts and shoelaces for games at Stony Brook, Binghamton and New Hampshire.
“The WBCA is very excited to promote an initiative that touches all levels of our membership and unifies them for such a great cause,” said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. “It has been remarkable to watch the support of this initiative grow from 120 teams last year to over 900 teams from a variety for sports for 2008. With the help of each of our members, the women’s basketball community and beyond can make a difference in the fight against breast cancer.”
For more information regarding the “Think Pink” initiative visit the WBCA web site at wbca.org. The WBCA is in the process of compiling photos and details from all participants of the “Think Pink” initiative and will post the information on its web site.