Rugby team supports cancer foundation
Wed 25 June 2008
Megan Jeffrey, Journalism
University of the Sunshine Coast women’s rugby team has taken on the role of sponsoring the Breast Cancer Foundation this year.
The team received new green jerseys this year, with the Breast Cancer Foundation logo and pink strips down the sides to represent the female colour and the foundation.
Andrew Berneville-Claye, head coach of the women’s rugby team, said representing such an important charity gave the girls a sense of spirit and brought them together as a team.
“We want to be known as a team that contributes to the community, and being a women’s team the charity was appropriate,” Mr Berneville-Claye said.
He said the girls wanted to represent a cause that meant something to women.
“The girls felt it was really important to represent something close to them and the Breast Cancer Foundation was something they all felt strongly about.”
The team has already raised about $2000 this year, with some of the money going towards registration costs for team members and the rest donated to the Breast Cancer Foundation.
“The girls are keen to work towards fundraising for the charity; they think it is an important part of the club,” Mr Berneville-Claye said.
Captain of the USC women’s team, Shonna Conlon, said the team’s support of the foundation gave her a great feeling.
“There is a bit of a negative feeling around women’s rugby so representing the charity allows us to feel like we are doing something good,” said Miss Conlon.
She said the closeness of the team helped them to work towards their goals to donate to the foundation.
“Our team is like family … and supporting this foundation through donations has brought us closer because it’s something we all want to help achieve.”
Fellow teammate Kerri Bowring said supporting this charity was something she had always wanted to do and now she had the chance.
“We always thought we should support something like that; it’s to raise awareness more than anything else and to do something that is just for women because we are a women’s team,” Miss Bowring said.
She said the pink on the jerseys and the logo made the team feel like they were really a part of something and was a great way to represent the female charity.
“The pink strips on the jerseys are a great way to represent not only the female side to the sport but the Breast Cancer Foundation as well.”
The women’s team was preparing to play in a charity game on Saturday, May 31, at the university rugby ground against the Caboolture women’s team.
The USC women’s team hoped to help raise money for the foundation and awareness in the local community about breast cancer.
The team members said they would continue to support the charity through fundraising efforts whenever they could.
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