Atlee’s boys volleyball team digs pink jerseys

Female athletic teams across the country have donned pink in some form or another throughout October to bring recognition to Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The Atlee High boys volleyball team decided to join the effort by wearing pink jerseys.

Raiders head coach Michelle Black, whose mother is a two-year survivor of breast cancer, suggested during the summer that the players wear pink socks or wristbands as a subtle means of recognizing the cause. Black didn't want the boys to go overboard with a color naturally associated with girls.

When the season began, the players decided to take it to a new level.

"I came into practice and said, 'OK, do you want to do socks or maybe we'll do a ribbon on our sleeve' and they said, 'No coach, let's do the whole thing,'" Black said. "'If we're going to do it, let's get jerseys.'"

Said assistant coach Andy Crane, whose son, Justin, is the team's setter, "They said, 'Let's wear pink jerseys. If we're going to do it, we're going to do it right.'"

While wearing pink jerseys and taking on the slogan of "Dig Pink" may seem a simple means of making a statement, the Atlee players suppressed masculine pride to make the statement.

Senior Steven Williams admitted that there was some hesitation among players.

"Everybody said it would be kind of weird," junior Kyle Rodgers said. "We realized it would be a good cause even if we do get a little embarrassed or [there's] a little mockery. It's nothing compared to losing a life or losing a loved one because of the disease."

Justin Crane had no qualms about wearing pink.

"One of our church members died a couple of years ago of breast cancer, and one of my dad's co-workers has breast cancer," he said. "It's personal for me I guess.

"I thought it was cool personally, more that we were making a statement than actually wearing the pink jerseys. I'm going to go out and play hard no matter what color jersey I'm wearing."

While the players hoped to raise breast cancer awareness among women who saw them wearing pink, the cause also brought about an epiphany for the team itself.

"I think it makes them more aware because they were unaware," Black said. "My team, they were like, 'We can't get it.' And I'm like, 'Yes, you can. . . . you can still get this awful disease.'"

According to the American Cancer Society, 1,910 new cases of men's breast cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year. More than 440 men are expected to die from breast cancer.

The Raiders, ranked No. 4 in the RVC Central Region Top 10, will don the pink jerseys one more time tonight against visiting No. 1 Highland Springs at 7.

Charlie Leffler is the sports editor of The Mechanicsville Local and Goochland Gazette. He can be reached at (804) 746-1235 or .