Coaches vs. Cancer: A Minnesota Success Story
Posted by John Millea (jmillea@mshsl.org)-
Updated 3/21/2011 12:11:01 PM
“Oh coach, you look so cute in pink!”
The compliment came from a smiling elementary student,
and Ellsworth High School boys basketball coach Tyler
Morris smiled right back. He was wearing a white shirt,
pink tie and pink sweater vest on this special Saturday
in January.
Pink, in fact, was the color of the day because it was
Coaches vs. Cancer night in Ellsworth. The occasion was
a boys basketball game; the Ellsworth Panthers have a
reputation for excellence in the sport, winning Class 1A
state titles in 2007 and 2008 and finishing second at
state in 2003, 2006 and 2009.
One of the smallest schools in Minnesota with an
enrollment of only 61 students in grades nine through
12, Ellsworth (Morris is pictured at right) also has
become a champion at raising funds to fight cancer. In
2010, Ellworth’s Coaches vs. Cancer event brought in
more than $1,500. This year, the total was more than
$2,200. For such a small school in a rural southwestern
Minnesota community of approximately 500 people, those
are amazing numbers.
But that’s the story all over Minnesota, where the
number of schools wrapping cancer awareness around
athletic events has grown steadily. Whether it’s
football, wrestling, swimming, gymnastics, hockey,
basketball or activities that include Relay For Life
events, pink has become a dominant color scheme all over
the state.
During the 2009-10 school year, Coaches vs. Cancer
events at Minnesota high schools raised a total of more
than $78,000. The number for 2010-11 (as of last week)
was $167,158. The money goes toward the fight against
cancer, but the benefits extend far beyond donations and
research.
“I think any time you can get people, and especially
teenagers, to think outside themselves, it’s a good
thing,” said Osseo High School activities director Ray
Kirch, who also is a member of the Minnesota State High
School League board of directors. Osseo has been very
involved in Coaches vs. Cancer.
“For us to teach our kids about service and gratitude
and giving back, whether it’s to their family or in this
case to the community, those are all good things,” Kirch
said. “And we should be about that as much as we should
be about winning and losing.”
Coaches vs. Cancer began on the college level in the
early 1990s. It evolved from a concept championed by
Norm Stewart, then the men’s basketball coach at the
University of Missouri. Stewart, a cancer survivor,
began the program by challenging fans to pledge a dollar
amount for every three-pointer made by his team during
the season.
Today, more than 2,000 college coaches are involved in
the program, as are hundreds, if not thousands, of high
schools around the nation. Since its inception, Coaches
vs. Cancer has raised nearly $50 million to support the
American Cancer Society’s mission to eliminate cancer as
a life-threatening disease. University of Minnesota
men’s basketball Tubby Smith is a member of the Coaches
vs. Cancer Council.
The Minnesota branch of the American Cancer Society
helps coordinate Coaches vs. Cancer events in the state.
Michelle Stepka, who works with the American Cancer
Society’s Youth Initiatives program, is heavily involved
with schools around the Twin Cities.
“I definitely think these (Coaches vs. Cancer)
experiences bring team cohesiveness to a new level,”
Stepka said. “Cancer is an illness that most people have
been touched by in some way, shape or form. It’s a big
visual when these events happen, with Walls of Hope or
T-shirts. And when teams get involved, it really shows
their community that these students know there’s more to
life than just wins and losses.”
In Ellsworth, people are used to working together for a
greater cause. Last summer, more than $27,000 was raised
to replace the basketball court in the school gym. The
old court had been there since the 1950s, and the new
court is a source of pride in town ... as are the annual
Coaches vs. Cancer events.
“It speaks for all the people willing to help and chip
in,” said Ellsworth’s Morris, who is the driving force
behind the Coaches vs. Center efforts in Ellsworth. He
takes no credit, but he works year-round to plan the
event and gather donations for raffles, a silent auction
and basketball bingo.
The hallway outside the Ellsworth gym was filled with
tables that carried all kinds of prizes: T-shirts,
banners, backpacks, fruit, candy, CDs, hats, power
tools, Timberwolves and Twins tickets and autographed
items from the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson, the Wild’s
Niklas Backstrom, the Twins’ Tony Oliva, the 1954 Milan,
Indiana, basketball team (which inspired the movie
“Hoosiers”) and former University of Minnesota football
coach Tim Brewster (donated while Brewster was still
with the Gophers). There also were coupons for free
subs, free golf, beef jerky from Ellsworth Locker and a
one-year family membership at the nearby Luverne pool
and fitness center (a $499 value).
People bought tickets for the raffle items, they filled
out silent auction forms and everybody played basketball
bingo. That entailed buying a bingo card that instead of
numbers contained events that happen during basketball
games. It was interesting to see something happen on the
court – a traveling call, an over-and-back, a ball
bouncing off the rim and behind the glass, etc. – and
then seeing a couple people scurry out of the gym with
their now-filled card to select a prize.(In the photo at
left, White Bear Lake coaches dressed for a Coaches vs.
Cancer game.)
“We’re trying to raise awareness and have fun,” Morris
said. “It’s easy to pass a bucket in the stands and get
donations, but it’s a lot more fun to get people
involved.”
The Westbrook-Walnut Grove players wore pink Coaches vs.
Cancer t-shirts during warm-ups, coaches from both teams
dressed in pink shirts and/or ties, the Ellsworth
players wore pink socks, the Ellsworth cheerleaders wore
pink sashes around their waists and a majority of the
fans wore pink shirts, hats, headbands, socks, etc. Most
of all, everyone had fun and lots of money was raised
for the fight against cancer.
“A lot of times we’re finding that a teacher or a player
or a coach’s mother or another family member has been
affected by cancer, and they may dedicate the game to
them,” Stepka said. “Also, many of the youth are
involved in some kind of charity of work outside the
season, such as Relay for Life.
“The more you can show them volunteering at a young age,
the more likely they will continue to do that type of
service work through high school, college and on into
careers and their own families.” |
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