By Nathan Albrinck ’16, Sports Section Editor
For many, October means much more than cold weather, colorful leaves, and football season. October means National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Founded thirty years ago in 1985, it is now a national phenomenon. Each year, Cincinnati Country Day School readily participates in this campaign, both honoring those who have fought the disease and raising money for those whose fights lie ahead. So far in 2015, the Country Day community has rallied around the cause through soccer, football, and volleyball.
On October 1st, the Country Day soccer teams traveled across town to rival Summit Country Day School for their biggest regular season match-ups of the year. Between games, both programs came together on the field for Breast Cancer Awareness. Pairs of Summit and Cincinnati Country Day students held hands and walked across the field, forming a ribbon, the symbol of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Each pair held a pink balloon to be released at the end of the presentation. Once the teams were in position, an announcer recited the story of Country Day’s Theresa Hirschauer and her battle with cancer. Hirsch, the head of the middle school and captain of the girls’ soccer team, is one of the best soccer players in Brown University history. Today, she puts her efforts into making Country Day a better place both academically and athletically. In all, it was a touching presentation, bringing two rival schools together for a single cause.
The next day, October 2nd, the football team held their Breast Cancer Awareness night. With the players and fans decked out in pink, the team beat North College Hill 20-7. Though the weather was awful, the fight against breast cancer continued on. During the game, Megan Campbell ‘16, the president of Country Day’s Breast Cancer Awareness Club, organized a customizable T-shirt sale and pink out. Megan began the club in 2014 and was able to raise over $2,000 for the Chris Collinsworth Proscan Fund. Last year’s fundraisers included a bake sale, a pizza sale, and a tea luncheon. Now in its second year, Megan looks to do even more. In addition to raising money, she finds it equally important to raise awareness. Megan has definitely done this, as Breast Cancer Awareness has become a lively part of Country Day culture this October. When asked why the cause is important to her, Megan responded that it “is very important to women in general, but also very important to [her] specifically because [she has] known a lot of people who have had breast cancer.” In the spirit of this excellent cause, Megan has emerged as a leader in the community.
The volleyball team continued the fight on Tuesday, October 6th, with their annual Volley for the Cure game. On the court, the team once again played Summit Country Day. Though falling short on the scoreboard, both the JV and Varsity teams played extremely close matches, with every set decided by just a few points. Off the court, senior captain Haven Watson and the team, in partnership with Megan, organized extremely successful bake and sock sales to raise money. The bake sale, which not only included baked goods, but also smoothies and shaved ice, had an almost continuous line. When asked about the event, Haven said, “Organizing the Volley for the Cure event was a little more difficult than I had expected, but it was worth it. Between the back sales and sock sales, we raised around $1,000 to donate to finding a cure for breast cancer.” The Volley for the Cure game will no doubt become a Country Day October tradition for many years to come.
Thus, on three different October days in less than a week, through three different sports, the Cincinnati Country Day School community came together with surrounding schools to raise both money and awareness for the fight against breast cancer. National Breast Cancer Awareness Month serves as yet another example of Country Day students’ commitment to service to others.
