This October, Keene State College’s field hockey team will be facing off against a much more formidable opponent — breast cancer.
On Oct. 11, during the team’s game against Worcester State, the KSC team played not only for a plus-one in the win column, but also to defeat breast cancer.
The team was dressed in pink tye-dye shirts during pre-game warm-ups and made baked goods such as cookies and lollipops to be sold at the game in an effort to raise money for breast cancer research and awareness of the cancer that will have taken the lives of an estimated 40,000 women in 2014, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Breast cancer affects the lives of hundreds of thousands of people per year, as well as their families.
For at least one of the players on the field hockey team, the struggles of breast cancer hit very close to home.
Paige Hefferan, a sophomore on the team, had personal stakes in the game on Saturday.
Kayla Renaud / Contributed Photo
When Hefferan was in high school, her mother, Lauren, was diagnosed with breast cancer but went into remission two years ago.
“I’ve watched my mom go through it and my family struggle with cancer so it’s difficult for me-but it’s kind of a building thing because my mom survived it … She’s a hero for me for going through it,” Hefferan said.
Hefferan noted that her mom was also her field hockey coach in high school, where her team played these types of cancer awareness games in support of their coach.
The sophomore midfielder later added that she was grateful to see the ongoing support of breast cancer awareness.
“It means a lot for me in that my team is helping to support, and that breast cancer is being put out there and it’s causing awareness and that [helps] build money to hopefully one day find a cure,” Hefferan said.
Sami Smith, another sophomore on the team, said that she believes that the breast cancer game will drive her teammates to push themselves harder than normal.
“I think it definitely motivates them because they remember how hard it [cancer] was and that they got through it and now they want to do good things [on the field] to make them proud,” Smith said
The team defeated Worcester State 3-0 on Saturday, improving their record to 9-4 on the season and improving the team’s undefeated record against conference opponents to 7-0.
Amy Watson, who has been the team’s head coach for 25 years as of this season, said that the Play for a Cure game is something that isn’t taken lightly by her or her players.
“I think that it is a big deal … Almost everyone has been affected by it somewhere in their life so I think it means something to them [the players],” Watson said.
Besides breast cancer, Watson added that it is important to also get involved in different charitable endeavors.
”It’s great to contribute to causes and there’s so many different worthy causes out there and whenever you get the opportunity to help out, it makes you feel good–it’s a nice thing to do,” Watson said.
Along with their 3-0 win on Saturday, the field hockey team also saw themselves claim a victory over breast cancer, an adversary that America will continue to fight in hopes of winning the war.
Jacob Barrett can be contacted at jbarrett@keene-equinox.com
