Competition keeps KSC men warm and ‘brings the team together too’
Emma Contic / Graphic Design Editor
The Red Sox are not the only team who aimed to keep the “No Shave November” tradition alive, as Keene State College students have followed in their footsteps.
November is notorious for being that time of year when men across the country compete with each other to see who can grow the most impressive beard.
While some men partake in something that is referred to as “No Shave November” simply for the laughs, others do it for a cause.
At Keene State College, the men’s hockey team participates in a way that may separate them from the rest. Instead of doing “No Shave November,” they decided to put a spin on it and do something called “Movember.”
The difference here is that instead of not shaving their entire face for the whole month of November, they only grow out their mustaches. The incentive in doing this is to raise both money and awareness in regard to prostate cancer.
Captain of the hockey team, senior Mike Allen, is very supportive of the team’s involvement in something like this and hopes that the hockey team will continue to do this event.
“We do it for recognition and letting everyone know that we’re out there to fundraise and raise money for different charities and events and stuff like that,” Allen said.
The hockey team has an official Owls’ Movember page that students can visit to view a roster of the team and see pictures of the players with their mustaches and make donations from there.
Also on the page are tabs available to click on and learn about how to get involved. Students can learn about men’s health and funded programs as well as other things.
The hockey team had participated in this last year and had received impressive results, so naturally they decided to do it again this year. According to Allen, they raised $2,220 during last year’s season.
“We’re actually in, I think, the top eight percent of teams across the country that raised money for prostate cancer,” Allen said.
KSC junior Ryan Sullivan is an example of someone participating in “No Shave November” simply for the fun of it. He is one of many men on campus who is participating to celebrate masculinity in a unique and entertaining way. “I’ve always done it since high school, it’s always just been a fun thing to do. Everyone’s doing it, you can kind of all look ridiculous together,” Sullivan said.
The men’s rugby team here at KSC has also gotten involved with competitions involving facial hair. According to men’s rugby team member, Gavin Taylor, the team has participated in facial hair events in previous spring seasons.
“Our team in the past used to do a big tournament called ‘Beasts of the East’ and we would all grow our beards out. Everyone would just grow out their facial hair and then right before this competition, we would cut it into a ridiculous facial hair style. Other teams used to definitely recognize us for that,” Taylor said.
In addition to raising awareness and supporting men’s health, the hockey team also experiences a bond throughout this process.
It is something they not only do for a good cause, but also for camaraderie. According to Allen, it helps them become more of a unified team.
“It really brings the team together too. It gets us closer and just kind of brings some laughs in the locker room seeing guys with mustaches,” Allen said.
“There’s always some guys that can’t grow mustaches so the guys with the peach fuzz [little hair growth] will die it jet black so you can kind of see it,” Allen said.
Taylor shared that what the hockey team is doing is for a good cause and that they should continue to do this event.
“I like that they [the hockey team] do it. You can always tell who is on the hockey team, which is pretty cool. It promotes team bonding and unity as well as raising money,” Taylor said.
Sabrina Lapointe can be contacted at slapointe@keene-equinox.com
