By Tim Kelleher – 1851 Staff
Everyone loves a heartfelt story of a sports team coming together and standing up for something outside of their respective sport. This month, the women’s lacrosse team worked in conjunction with Facing Cancer Together, a Newton-based cancer group, participating in the worldwide event, “Be Bold, Be Bald” that took place on Friday, October 21.
Women’s lacrosse players wore bald caps to raise cancer awareness while working with the “Be Bold, Be Bald” campaign. Photo courtesy of Bridget Delaney.
Facing Cancer Together was created in 2009 to help cancer patients in the Boston-area. According to the organization’s website, its mission is to “help people live the best quality of life possible while navigating through the cancer experience.”
Be Bold, Be Bald is meant to honor those who have fought against any form or type of cancer. The bald caps symbolized the effects of chemotherapy and day-to-day feelings the thousands of cancer patients have each day. As a part of this event the team raised money months before they would wear bald caps.
Bridget Delaney, senior captain of the lacrosse team, said, “I have had many members in my family go through cancer so it is something that has really impacted my life.”
Delaney is also the President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She was contacted by the Facing Cancer Together community who was looking for athletes to participate in the event.
The women’s lacrosse team was very receptive to the idea of raising money for a cancer charity as well as wearing the bald caps around campus. The event was a big success for the team.
“We raised a good amount of money and wore the bald caps around campus for the day,” said Delaney.
Senior baseball player Rob Madden said, “I saw the bald caps but didn’t know what it meant or why they were doing it.” After some quick online research, he became familiar with the Be Bold, Be Bald event and was thoroughly impressed with how involved the team was.
No one walks by a person wearing a bald cap thinking nothing of it. The women’s lacrosse team were successful in raising awareness and sparking discussion on campus.
