McDaniel Women’s Basketball Team Enters the Pink Zone

This past Saturday, McDaniel's Gill Center was a sea of vibrant shades of pink. It wasn't a Valentine's Day Dance, it wasn't a spring flower sale. It was a Green Terror Ladies basketball game. 

The McDaniel Women’s Basketball Team hyped up the crowd when they spilled onto the court for warm ups sporting knee-high  pink socks, which matched ever- so-perfectly with their gold and green jerseys (not).

They were in the zone—the Pink Zone, that is.

The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association created the Pink Zone initiative in 2007 to raise awareness about breast cancer on the court, at the college, and in the community.  

The initiative was heavily influenced by the late head coach of North Carolina State University’s women’s basketball team, Kay Yow, who was fighting breast cancer for the third time in 2007. Yow died on January 24, 2009, but the initiative she helped create continues to influence people across the country.

At the inception of the program, only 120 schools participated. As of 2010, according to WBCA.org, more than 1,800 participants came together to surpass $1 million in donations and reach more than 922,000 fans across the nation.

McDaniel has been a member of this initiative since the start. Coach Martin, head coach of women’s basketball, said that “our team is supportive in the cause of breast cancer awareness and looks forward to helping bring awareness to a national health issue.”

Despite McDaniel’s loss of 67-42 to Muhlenberg, Saturday’s game helped raise awareness about breast cancer, and helped to celebrate the accomplishments of the senior players, who have all played Pink Zone games for the last four years.

 “We enjoy participating in the WBCA’s Pink Zone to increase breast cancer awareness,” said Senior basketball player Whitney Snoops. “And for the past couple of years we have even been wearing pink socks and shoelaces during the game.”

The simple effort of wearing pink during a game or to a game may seem like a small gesture, but in reality can make a world of a difference in creating awareness about breast cancer.

According to the National Cancer Institute, approximately 41,021 women die a year from breast cancer in the United States as of 2007. In Maryland, around 822 deaths occur annually and in Carroll County alone, there are on average 24 deaths a year.

“I think the Pink Zone is a great idea,” Lauren Schwartzbart, senior at McDaniel said, “It was a cool way of advertising breast cancer awareness and the importance of getting checked out, while cheering on our team. I’m glad McDaniel participates each year.”