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.