Deep Run HS football team turns loss into victory on Cancer Awareness Night
GLEN ALLEN, Va. — At the end of the night on Friday, October 7, the scoreboard at Deep Run High School’s football stadium wasn’t lit up in the home team’s favor. The Wildcats suffered a 49-0 defeat at the hands of crosstown rival Douglas Freeman. While the result of the game wasn’t what coach Joe Mullinax’s team was hoping for; the evening was far from a loss. The matchup against Freeman served as Deep Run’s “Cancer Awareness Night.” Fans and students attending the game were encouraged to wear pink, while players wore pink accessories with their uniforms. The “pink out” game has been a tradition at the school going back several years.
“I know it’s been important to the community and it’s always been important to me,” Mullinax said. “My aunt passed away from cancer. Everyone has a story like that. Whether you directly have the disease or know someone who did, or someone in your friends circle did … it makes a lot of sense to continue that tradition and build upon it.”
Leading up to the game, the football team internally raised funds to donate to two specific, Virginia-based organizations – the Ryland Strong Foundation and Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation. Mullinax has a personal connection to the Ryland Strong Foundation, named for Ryland Harris, who passed away from brain cancer at the age of 17. Harris played for Mullinax at Brentsville District High School.
“Lots of things divide us in this world right now. We can all share the desire to eradicate this disease and work towards funding for research, however we can do our part,” Mullinax said.
Families of players made donations, while individual players were given special incentive to give at least $10. That amount was set as the minimum donation to wear the pink uniform accessories that have been made popular around the National Football League, as well as college football. And while it’s certainly fashionable, there was an understanding by the players that wearing pink was an opportunity to use their influence to solicit further donations.
“As a player and a team, we’re put into a position of being a source of entertainment for people as they watch us play. As players, people see us wearing pink and think ‘this is why they’re wearing pink, so I should donate,’” said senior captain Bobby Paster. “I think it’s cool as a football player to have that impact on these nonprofits and organizations to be able to raise money.”
For some players, that thought comes from being touched by cancer on a personal level. Senior captain Colby Taylor lost his grandfather to brain cancer, and lost a childhood best friend to a rare and aggressive bone cancer.
“Being there when he was in hospice had a large impact on me. Being able to take a stand and be sort of a public figure in my community, be out there for the fans and show that this is important to us as a team is very much a personal matter for myself,” Taylor said. “Every game is a serious one, but this one had a bit more heaviness to it for me going through warmups and getting ready. It was a lot different from a normal game. We’re playing for the team, putting on a show for the community and playing for each other. This one was like playing – not so much for a higher power – but for a greater group of people.”
At the end of the night, the Wildcats took a loss on the field, but had done their part to raise awareness in their community, and raised nearly $800 to be split between the two organizations. With that, the Deep Run head coach was able to easily look past the scoreboard as the sole determining factor of a win and a loss for the evening.
“It was a good night,” Mullinax said. “It could have been better, but it was a good night.”
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