It is football season again.

On Friday nights, you can find D’Evereux Stadium all decked out in green and white, but we are adding a splash of pink for the third year in a row with our Pink Wave Project.

Cathedral’s Pink Wave Project (PWP) is a non-profit fundraiser to help fund the fight against cancer. I know the color pink normally represents breast cancer, but our event is simply for cancer awareness, every type of cancer.

The idea for our PWP came from a philanthropy seminar that I attended at the American Football Coach’s Association Clinic in 2012.

I have always tried to stress to my players the importance of giving back to the community because that is who supports us so well during our football season. The first year the support of our PWP was completely overwhelming, and the event has continued to grow. For two years in a row, PWP has donated $6,000 to the Miss-Lou’s Relay for Life Event.

This year, however, we are broadening our donating horizons.

In addition to donating to Relay for Life, we are going to make donations to St. Jude’s and Blair Batson’s Pediatric Cancer Clinic.

Also, new to this year’s events is our first Pink Wave 5K walk/run and 1-mile fun run.

This will take place on Sept. 20 with registration/sign in beginning at 7:30 a.m. at the corner of Main and Broadway streets.

Registration forms are available on our school website, cathedralgreenwave.com. Of course, the highlight of our PWP is the Pink Game.

At 7 p.m. Sept. 19, the Green Wave will host Resurrection Catholic High School.

During the game, Cathedral’s football players will be wearing pink jerseys.

Each player has chosen the name of someone they care about who has fought a battle with any type of cancer, and that person’s name will be displayed on the back of their jersey. Before the game, the seniors and either the person they are playing in honor of or the person’s family they are playing in memory of will be introduced.

The Green Wave Cheerleaders and The Emerald Tide Dance Team will also be sporting various types of pink attire. We will be selling 3×5 pink name cards at the game so you can honor your loved ones too.

These cards are used to line the fence of the football field.

When PWP was originally born, we focused our efforts on the fundraising part, as a school, however, we have come to realize this project is so much more than just raising money for a good cause.

The Pink Game gives us all a chance to remember the lives of those that we have lost and celebrate the lives of those that we still have here with us.

Emotions will be running high on and off the field that night, so we hope that you will make plans to help us make PWP III the best ever.

Come out and cheer the Green Wave on to a victory and help us paint D’Evereux Stadium pink on Friday, Sept. 19.

 

Ron Rushing is the head football coach for the Cathedral Greenwave.