Pink has brought magic to Williston’s Field Hockey team.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Every year, girls’ teams have “Pink Games” to raise awareness for Breast Cancer. In the past couple of years, there have been three pink games in the month of October: Girls Soccer, Volleyball, and Field Hockey.
This year, the soccer team played Pomfret and volleyball played Worcester Academy, both on October 20. The Field Hockey teams (Varsity and JV) partnered up with American Cancer Society “Stick it to Cancer” games on Friday October 27 versus one of Williston’s long-time rivals, Suffield Academy.
The American Cancer Society is a cancer fighting organization who has been seeking to make lives better for people with cancer since 1913. The “Stick it to Cancer” initiative partners with elementary school, high school, and college lacrosse and field hockey teams across the nation.
Sarah Sawyer, the Assistant Varsity Field Hockey coach, appreciates how the community consistently comes together to support each other.
“I was really proud of the way that the whole community supported the field hockey team’s efforts to raise money for cancer,” she said. “It is great to see students support each other.”
“Also, it was obviously great to beat Suffield,” she added.
The score was 5-1, favoring the Wildcats after a 1-0 deficit.
Alex Tancrell-Fontaine, the Head Coach of the Field Hockey team, was asked by American Cancer Society to have a game for breast cancer awareness and Ms. TF (which is what most students call her) thought it would be a great way to bring the community together.
“Over the summer the American Cancer Society reached out to me for this national-wide campaign that they were doing called ‘Stick it to Cancer’ and I thought it was a great idea,” she said. “And I said let’s do it.”
Tancrell-Fontaine agrees with Sawyer regarding the community’s participation in the Pink Games.
“I think my favorite part of the game was how supportive everyone in the community was and our effort to raise awareness and fundraise for the cause,” she said proudly.
Camille Armaganian ’24, one of the Field Hockey captains, was ecstatic to be playing for something bigger than herself.
“My heart was warmed by the preparation for this game,” she said. “We had so many students, faculty, parents, and families buy the pink bracelets we were selling to raise money for Stick it to Cancer. Seeing everyone around campus wear those bracelets made me smile, because we were all coming together to support this cause.”
The Field Hockey team wore pink from head to toe. Before the game started, they got decked out in temporary tattoos, pink hair spray, socks, jerseys, and bows.
One of Camille’s favorite parts of the night was before the game.
“I also enjoyed getting ‘pinked out’ with the whole field hockey team, as well as wearing the new pink jerseys, it was all just incredibly special,” she said.
Violet Carroll, a junior midfielder on the Field Hockey team, agrees that getting “pinked out” was a highlight of the night.
“My favorite part about the pregame was putting pink hairspray in our hair,” she said. “It was super fun and really completed our pink look.”
Violet was grateful to be playing in a game for something bigger than herself, and “the support we received from fans was incredible,” she said.
Teagan Duffy, the manager of the Field Hockey team, watched the game from the sideline and all she could see was pink.
“The whole environment of pink accessories and clothing was so fun to participate in and emphasized the fundraiser aspect that much more,” she said. “Plus, I love an excuse to wear pink.”
The team’s dynamic was “electric and full of energy,” Teagan said.
“No matter what connection people had to the cause of breast cancer, there was an underlying sense of determination to make the game the best possible,” Teagan said. “Even being on the sidelines in my position, I felt included in a cause that I and so many others care very deeply about.”
Both the JV team and the Varsity team surpassed their goal and raised over 1,200 dollars for the American Cancer Society.
Besides the accomplishment in fundraising, a common highlight was the Field Hockey team’s success against the Suffield Tigers.
“My favorite part about the game itself was that we won, and that everyone played,” TF said. “It was a really magical night.”
