Most young boys, particularly football players, shudder at the thought of wearing the color pink. But for the members of the Panthers and Saints and 20 other teams of the Beach Cities Sports (BCS) flag football league, donning the hue associated with femininity became a badge of honor in a game held recently at Mira Costa High School.
Sporting pink socks, undershirts and sweat bands, many of the 10- and 11-year-old players performed with pink tape on their cleats and pink streaks in their hair.
Ironically, it gave them a bonding feeling with their heroes in the NFL, some of the fiercest and most masculine athletes ever to strap on pads and a helmet.
Throughout the month of October, NFL teams are supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month with the color pink splashed across stadiums throughout the country. Players in the BCS league wanted to follow suit. Their fundraising efforts will support the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation.
“I loved the idea (of wearing pink),” said Panther quarterback Brendan Reesing. “I saw the NFL players wearing it to show support and to raise awareness about cancer and I want to play in the NFL one day, so I liked wearing pink like them, but only because the NFL players did it first. Otherwise, I would never wear pink. We were happy to look like NFL players and to help raise money and support the (Susan Komen) Foundation.”
The players on the Panthers and Saints pledged to donate 50 cents for each point scored in the game. With the Panthers emerging victorious 27-12, the teams had raised $352 for four quarters of football.
“My dad started the BCS when my uncle Matt Gastaldo died from cancer,” said Panther wide receiver Jack Alexander, Jr. “He died on the field coaching his sons and I hate that he died. This week, my dad told us that the mothers of two of his good friends had died of cancer (Libby Watts and Mary Lou Heckel) and that his friends were coming to watch and support us. Some of us even wrote their initials (MG, LW, and MLH) on the pink tape like the pros to honor them.”
Jack, Sr. was proud of his son’s idea to have the players wear pink.
“You can imagine how I felt with my wife’s family in attendance, as well as Greg Watts and Mark Heckel, knowing that these young boys took it upon themselves to dedicate the game to close friends and family,” Jack Alexander said. “As a coach, I try to relate sports to lessons in life, how it is not about the wins and losses, but teamwork, doing their best, and becoming fine young men who see the bigger picture in life.”
The idea to wear pink steamrolled throughout the league, with more than 20 other teams turning their games into a Pink Challenge last weekend with competition carrying over from the field to the donation total from each team.
Founded only three years ago, there are 37 teams in the BCS flag football league with players ages 6-13 competing in four divisions.
The league’s fundraising effort began at the beginning of the month with a simple booth placed next to the snack bar on game days. Donations were accepted and t-shirts and other pink gear were sold.
“The first weekend the fundraisers were out at the field, approximately $900 was raised,” Rich Whitney, BCS President, said. “When I saw this number I had mixed feelings. $900 is better than nothing, plus the table would be there for the rest of the month. On the other hand, I was thinking the number would drop a lot after the first week so we’d probably not raise much more. I had certainly hoped we could raise, over the course of the month, a bunch more.”
Whitney stated that Alexander, Cam Purcell, Art Merkin, Jeff Reesing and Brian Bush stepped up providing leadership for the cause.
“I know they all share our vision that BCS can — and should be — about so much more than football. This is a perfect example. Raising some money for a good cause and modeling community and caring behavior for these kids is awesome.”
With team contributions from last weekend’s games, combined with donations and merchandise sales, has BCS has raised close to $15,000 since its drive began.
“Unfortunately, so many of us have been touched by this disease (or cancer generally),” said Whitney, whose own mother is a cancer survivor. “This is an opportunity to do something small to help and set an important example for our young players. You cannot imagine what it was like to tell our boys at practice that they would be wearing pink for their football game and why. They surprised us by their maturity. They quickly grasped that this was something good and important to be involved with.”
BCS flag football league is a volunteer-managed, non-profit organization with more than 500 players from Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Torrance, Palos Verdes and surrounding areas, although there are no boundaries for players. For more information, visit www.beachcitiessports.org. To assist in the league’s fundraising effort, contact Whitney at BCSPresident@yahoo.com. ER
