COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Tech women's basketball team
will participate in the nationwide "Pink Zone" program being
sponsored by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, an
initiative to help raise breast cancer awareness.
Fans attending the Thursday night doubleheader against Tennessee
State are encouraged to wear pink to the event. The women's game
tips off at 5 p.m., with the men's game at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.
More than 1,250 schools and organizations have committed to
participating in the 2009 WBCA Pink Zone initiative.
The WBCA Pink Zone initiative is a global, unified effort for the
WBCA’s nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer
awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond.
The week set aside for this year’s initiative is February
13-22, however many schools are participating outside of that
window due to scheduling conflicts.
“It has been nothing short of miraculous to watch teams and
organizations across the nation rally behind the fight against
breast cancer through the WBCA Pink Zone initiative,” said
WBCA CEO Beth Bass. “As our coaches constantly
reiterate the concept of ‘teamwork’ to our
student-athletes, it is personified and brought to life through
this initiative.”
Schools have chosen to participate in a variety of different
ways. Some ideas for involvement include donning pink
uniforms, inviting breast cancer survivors to the game, wearing
pink shooting shirts, asking all fans to wear pink, and raffling
off pink basketballs to raise money for a charity. The extent of
involvement is up to the individual institution.
The NCAA has also joined the WBCA Pink Zone initiative by
implementing the “Calling for a Cure” campaign where
all NCAA women’s basketball officials will be blowing a pink
whistle February 13-22. Additionally, officials are
encouraged to make a donation to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.
Along with the NCAA and ESPN, other supporting organizations
include: CBS College Sports Network, Fox Sports, National
Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA),
National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA),
National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators
(NACWAA), Collegiate Sports Information Directors of America
(CoSIDA), Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA),
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), National
Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), NCAA Conference
offices, The Hartford (Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund Founding Partner)
and many more.
Following the 2009 WBCA Pink Zone week, the WBCA will collect
photos and video footage and tally total number of fans reached and
donations collected during the initiative.
For tickets to the games Thursday, contact the Athletics Ticket
Office in Eblen Center or call (931) 372-3940.