Bluffton University's football, soccer and volleyball programs are joining forces in the fight against breast cancer during "Pink Week," set for Sept. 25-Oct. 2.
Each of the four teams-including the men's and women's soccer teams-will wear pink as part of their uniforms during the week "to bring awareness on campus to the breast cancer issue," said Robin Bowlus, public relations director at Bluffton.
The volleyball team, in pink jerseys, will raise money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure during a "Dig for the Cure" match against Manchester at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29. A similar match two years ago netted, in conjunction with the visiting team from Oberlin, more than $1,000 for the national organization.
The week will open with the football game against Mount St. Joseph at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25. Bluffton players will wear pink-ribbon stickers on their helmets, plus pink socks and a jersey decal that day.
Members of the women's soccer team will also sport pink socks for their match against Oberlin at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 28, as will the men's soccer team-along with pink long-sleeved shirts-when it hosts Heidelberg at 4 p.m. Sept. 29.
The soccer teams will remain in pink as they usher in Breast Cancer Awareness Month with a Saturday, Oct. 2, doubleheader versus Transylvania at 1 p.m. (women) and 3 p.m. (men). Bluffton soccer coaches will wear pink polo shirts during the week and, at halftime of the Oct. 2 women's match, pink roses will be presented to breast cancer survivors in players' families.
Bluffton athletics' support of the cancer cause isn't limited to fall sports. The softball team hosts a "Strike-Out Cancer" day each spring, with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society.
