WECSSAA Breast Cancer Awareness Week

 

 

By Ryan Blevins

Windsor-Essex Catholic Secondary School Athletic Association Football players are raising money for breast cancer with the intention of making a change.

 

Oct. 1 they kicked off the fifth annual breast cancer awareness week for local high school football players. The event raised money for the Windsor Regional Cancer Centre by selling silicon bracelets to students and fans to be used as tickets to all the games played during the week.

 

Each bracelet costs three dollars, all of the profits made from the 40 cent bracelets are donated to support the cause.

 

Tami Hawkins, 44, a physical education teacher at Tecumseh Vista Academy is the quarterback of the operation. After being diagnosed with stage two breast cancer in August 2008 and experiencing how uncomfortable she felt in the chemotherapy suites, she felt it was time for a change.

 

“You were just kind of starring at the person across from you and it was very uncomfortable I found,” said Hawkins. “I always had someone with me, a lot of support, a huge family and you saw a lot of people sitting alone and I felt really bad for them.”

 

While teaching at Kennedy Colligate Secondary School she began the first Pink Day, Oct. 1, 2010. This day hosted a school wide walk and a football game between Kennedy and Riverside Secondary School (the school where her husband was teaching at the time.) Five years later, there are 14 high school football programs participating in the week of games and selling of the bracelets. The event also encourages players and referees to wear pink apparel throughout the week.

 

WECSSAA convener and head coach of Holy Names High School Football Rob McIntyre, 44, has not had any trouble with getting his players to jump on board with the initiative.

 

“The one thing that I can say over the years is, you know, our players have really stepped up and gone out there and sold the bracelets,” said McIntyre.

“They’ve done a great job promoting it.”

 

To date $107,000 has been raised with the help of players and coaches. Anyone looking to donate to this event can contact Tami Hawkins at Tecumseh Vista Academy.