AIDAN POLLARD
Sports Editor
Pink the Rink wasn’t the only pink athletics event happening on campus this week.
Alongside the Fredonia-Plattsburgh hockey game on Saturday, the athletics department dedicated the entire week to the cause of fighting breast cancer with a “Pink Week” leading up to the game.
Since the Pink the Rink game is an annual fundraising game to fight breast cancer, it’s only fitting that the week leading up to the game was focused on breast-cancer awareness as well.
On Monday, the department held a “Pink Week Games Night” which included games, food and information on breast cancer awareness.
At the event, attendees were treated to pizza as they played cornhole, basketball and KanJam, while also being exposed to information regarding breast cancer and “breast self-awareness” in the form of an information table.
The event also featured a banner that attendees could sign to show support in the fight against breast cancer.
“I think [breast cancer awareness] is very important,” said Fredonia Track and Field Sophomore MaryClaire Haseley. “It’s pretty common and it can be easily prevented if you take the the necessary steps in trying to prevent it. It’s an issue that has affected most people.”
The week also included another “pink” event in the form of National Girls and Women in Sport Day.
The day is a “national observance celebrating the extraordinary achievements of women and girls in sports,” according to the day’s official website.
Members of the Fredonia athletic department were given T-shirts at the beginning of the week to commemorate the day, as well as the department’s “Pink Week.”
The shirts feature the Fredonia Blue Devils logo with “Pink Week 2019” written underneath as well as the logo for National Girls and Women in Sports Day on the back.
Sponsors for the day of Women’s sports recognition included Fredonia Athletics, Fredonia President’s Office, Fredonia Campus Life, Enrollment and Student Services, and Faculty Student Association.
“It’s a reminder that men and women should be equal in athletics,” said Haseley. “In a world where men and women are supposed to be equal it’s discouraging that women still have to fight for that equality.”
The day was supported in the athletics department through a series of tweets and retweets, all sporting the hashtags of “FredFightsfortheGirls,” “FredoniaPinkWeek” or “NGWSD2019.”
Culminating in the Pink the Rink on Saturday, Pink Week for Fredonia’s athletics department focused on recognising women in sports as well as breast cancer awareness, both important and burning issues.