UWRF athletics partner with American Cancer Society to raise money, awareness

UW-River Falls athletic teams are partnering with the American Cancer Society to raise money and awareness for many forms of cancer. The football, soccer and volleyball teams will take on WIAC opponents and cancer with the Coaches vs. Cancer program.

“Coaches vs. Cancer is a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches that empowers coaches, their teams, and local communities to make a difference in the fight against cancer,” according to the UWRF athletic website.

“Falcon Athletics is excited to partner with the American Cancer Society’s Coaches vs. Cancer program,” said UWRF Assistant Athletic Director Crystal Lanning via the athletic website. “This is a cause that most people can connect with, and for many of our coaches and student-athletes, the connection is very personal. During Coaches vs. Cancer week at UWRF, we hope to raise awareness and much needed funding for breast cancer and endometrial cancer research and programming. We encourage all of our fans to support the efforts of our teams by wearing pink or peach to the respective awareness games.”

The UWRF athletic website also indicates that since 1993, Coaches vs. Cancer has raised more than $87 million to help the American Cancer Society. This money allows the American Cancer Society not only to find cures for cancer, but also to assist people in staying well and getting well.

The football team plays UW-Oshkosh at 2 p.m., on Saturday Oct. 19. This is the second year that the football team has participated in this program.

The soccer team will raise awareness for endometrial cancer in its game against UW-Stevens Point at 2 p.m., on Oct. 19.

This is the third consecutive year that the soccer teams will participate in “Playing For A Cause,” according to the WIAC website. Each of the nine teams was able to select a cause to support and raise awareness for at a home game.

The Falcon volleyball team will play its annual Breast Cancer Awareness match against UW-Stout at 7 p.m., on Wednesday Oct. 23.

According to the WIAC website, this is the sixth straight season that volleyball teams will participate in promotional events to support Breast Cancer Awareness. In the past five seasons, WIAC volleyball teams have raised $113,037.

To help raise money for this cause, pink T-shirts will be $10, and a camouflage T-shirt will be sold for $15. The shirts will be sold on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the University Center, at all three athletic events and in the Falcon Athletic Office located in Hagestad Hall.

“The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end cancer for good. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.8 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, an estimated 13.7 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year,” according to the UWRF athletic website.