Antioch, Lakes wear it well
The girls on the Lakes and Antioch girls volleyball team did not exactly have to morph into Zig Ziglar to sell t-shirts for Friday's volleyball match.
When the cause is this important, the $10 t-shirts almost sell themselves.
"It's been very easy," Lakes junior Allie Rosenzweig said about selling t-shirts. "Everyone (knows) it's for such a good cause."
The cause is research for breast cancer. When visiting Lakes and Antioch play at 6 p.m. today the players on both teams will be wearing pink t-shirts instead of jerseys. The coaches, officials and many in the crowd will be sporting the same attire. The two teams also will use a pink volleyball. The goal is to raise about $8,000, with the money going to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
Lakes coach Carla Thompson was reading a volleyball magazine last spring when she saw an article about two schools in Ohio that had a similar fundraiser. The issue hit home with Thompson, a breast cancer survivor. Thompson has been cancer free since 2001.
Antioch seemed like a natural school to pair with since many of the girls played on the same team as freshmen. Thompson walked over to Antioch coach Glen Heitman's house in the summer and asked if Antioch would participate. Heitman, who was mowing the lawn at the time, agreed immediately.
"It adds a different atmosphere to the game," he said. "I liked the idea of getting the kids involved in some kind of (activity) other than volleyball."
The Lakes girls were just as receptive.
"When she brought it up everyone was excited," said senior Katie Thompson, whose mom is Lakes' coach. "It's cool to be part of such a big thing."
The breast cancer statistics are sobering.
"Two of the 12 girls on a (volleyball) team may end up having breast cancer or somebody that they know will have it," Carla Thompson said. "It's something that affects everybody."
And something that the Lakes and Antioch girls are doing their part to stop.
"We've had a positive response from everybody," Carla Thompson said. "We're hoping everybody at the game will have pink on."