This is no normal volleyball game. In addition to Woodgrove playing against their rival Loudoun Valley on October 21, Woodgrove Volleyball held their annual Dig Pink event at home. Woodgrove came out on top after sweeping Valley in three out of five sets. The volleyball game itself was not the most important part of the night: It was to spread awareness about breast cancer and raise money for the Side-Out Foundation.
In the month of October, most Woodgrove sports hosted a breast cancer awareness event. Woodgrove Volleyball hosted the Dig Pink event, which raised money for the Side-Out Foundation. The term “side out” in volleyball means regaining the serve or possession of the ball, which correlates with breast cancer because the patients are fighting to regain control of their lives.
Pam Allen, a Woodgrove High School volleyball parent, helped run the event. “I work with the Side-Out Foundation and it’s a foundation that’s located in Fairfax. They give you a representative, and you work with them…They keep the money for their patients, it’s a breast cancer research company, and they actually treat patients with metastatic breast cancer,” Allen shared.
Woodgrove did several fundraisers to raise money for the Side-Out foundation. This year, Kendra Scott jewelry brand came and set up a “color bar” which included blank necklaces, rings, bracelets or earrings that you can customize by adding stones. In addition to a “color bar,” they also brought predesigned earrings, bracelets, rings, and necklaces. The jewelry company “gives a 20% give back, so 20% of their profit goes straight to the Dig Pink Side-Out Foundation, and it goes under the Woodgrove name,” Allen explained.
Another way that Woodgrove raised money is through raffle baskets. All of the players on each team divided up into groups of three or four and created a themed basket. Some of the themes consisted of sweater weather, christmas, candy, gift cards and campfires. “What [the baskets] are is that parents and everyone who can come see the game can bid money on them to get whatever is inside of the basket,” Junior Morgan Sher who plays Varsity volleyball at Woodgrove clarified. In addition to raffle baskets and the Kendra Scott stand, there was also a bake sale which Sher and other teammates helped organize.
In addition to raising money, the event is a way to show support to anyone who has overcome or is still struggling with breast cancer. Sher stated, “I enjoy seeing all the people there that want to come and spread awareness about [breast cancer]. My grandma had breast cancer, stage 4, so it was just really important to me to see people come out and spread awareness, their stories, how they got through it and sharing with people who might experience it one day.”
In addition to Sher, other players and students who have relation to breast cancer attended the event. Freshman Evelyn Sharp, who was on the Freshman volleyball team commented, “I think being from a family with a relative that has had breast cancer shows the importance of recognizing it, and it makes you realize how many other people have struggled with breast cancer.”
The Dig Pink event increased the attendance of the typical volleyball game. “I think the energy of the crowd and the students’ participation and attendance definitely contributed to the energy of the game. I think that also helps bring the energy up, so even when they mess up a point, they don’t get down on themselves,” Sharp mentioned.
The success of the event is not just a win in the score book, but it is also a way for awareness to be spread on the struggles of breast cancer. Sher added, “I think that we all take into account that this isn’t just about us. This is about the people in the stands watching, and I know they appreciate the movement, so it’s definitely a big deal in that aspect.”