Roselle Catholic High School Hosts 7th Annual Spike Breast Cancer Game

On Wednesday, October 8, 2014 the Roselle Catholic High School community saw a sharp departure from the quotidian hustle-and-bustle, as an ambiance of mixed anticipation and jubilation permeated the pinked-out Lions’ Den.

“Very excited, I’m so ready to play,” declared Angela Altamirano, an RC sophomore volleyball player. When asked if she was ready to win, she smilingly rebutted “Oh yes!” without hesitation.

Indeed, excitement levels were off the charts and even infectious among the students. Take Amanda Agyapong, a senior at RC and varsity volleyball player, for instance, who revealed she was “So excited! [On a scale of 1-10] I’m at 11...point 3.”

“On a scale of 1-10, I’d say a thousand,” said senior RC mascot Andre Mosely, who has been a standard-bearer for RC school spirit since he was a freshman. He planned on getting his energy to rub off on others “by making this student section as loud as possible.”

What, you may ask, was the cause of all this hysteria? None other than the 7th Annual Spike Breast Cancer Game.

The RC Girls’ Volleyball teams, both J.V. and Varsity, was to have their mettle tested that evening by the rival Bishop Ahr squad. Preparations for the event to be held in the Pat Hagan Gymnasium were diffuse and conspicuous throughout RC, with the most telltale indicator being the ubiquity of the color pink. During the day, the hall festively teemed with young men and women wearing pink on all articles of clothing; it was not unusual to spot a female, no more so a male, with pink highlights in her/his hair. However, it would be gravely fallacious to presume that the atmosphere was achieved without thoughtful, laborious effort; in fact, Erin Devlin and Robyn Owens - two dedicated RC sophomore volleyball players who were busy festooning the gym with balloons - can attest to the hard work. “We’re decorating the gym,” quoted the former as she took a balloon from Robyn. “30 minutes. We’ve spent 30 minutes making and placing these balloons,” said the latter. Another RC volleyball player, bubbly sophomore Anisa Moore, proudly flaunted the decorative signs she and her teammates had produced. “We made our own,” Anisa said, beaming as she showed me her glittery-pink poster.

Undoubtedly, the greatest tenet that inspirits this event at Roselle Catholic High School and evokes such a uniformly strong response among the students yearly is the determination to promote awareness for breast cancer - a disease that is expected to afflict at least 232,670 more women in 2014 alone1. Joseph Skrec - the well-seasoned Athletic Director at Roselle Catholic who also earned and surpassed his 300th win last year as the Girls’ Basketball coach - knows all too well the significance this game bears especially for RC’s culture, community, and rich tradition :

“The first inaugural Spike Breast Cancer event at Roselle Catholic HS was held Wednesday, October 8, 2008 in the Lions’ Den. The event originated from then-RC Volleyball coach Don Godfrey, who, I think, got the idea after he watched a Rutgers at Notre Dame volleyball match in South Bend. Godfrey’s daughter, Jamie, played for Rutgers and both teams wore pink uniforms for that match.With lots of hard work and a tremendous amount of enthusiasm, Mr. Godfrey put together an incredible event. Like the Bishop Ahr coach said, ‘Don runs the whole thing and he does an amazing job.’

“There is also a sad reason the event got off to an enthusiastic start. The first Spike Breast Cancer at RC was a fundraiser in memory of Celeste Kosty Murray, who passed away from breast cancer at the age of 40. Don Godfrey had also lost his mother and mother-in-law to breast cancer.

“I think Spike Breast Cancer is one of the highlights of Roselle Catholic’s athletic calendar because it combines a competitive match with tremendous spirit and enthusiasm in the bleachers. From the very first year of Spike Breast Cancer, the RC students have supported the event with their voices and, of course plenty of pink. We like to believe that all Roselle Catholic Students can play a part in the success of the Lions’ athletic programs - whether they be the athletes themselves, the managers or the fans - and Spike Breast Cancer night is one of the best examples of the RC community supporting a tremendous event for a very good cause.”

A similar sentiment apparently resonates with RC Varsity Girls’ Volleyball coach Jason Davila. “This event is important just in general, but particularly when it comes to an event like this, for charity, I think it helps the students to focus on the needs of others.” With the commencement of the game imminent, Coach Davila made clear his unconditional expectations from his players on this special evening. “Sportsmanship and heart. Heart and desire; other than that, they do their jobs.”

Needless to say, the RC Lions showed lots of passion that night, diving all over the court and scrambling for the ball if soared out of bounds. The foregone conclusion that the benches would be packed with spectators came into fruition as a pink-tinctured multitude of students related to the RC community, as well as parents (and supporters of the opposing team) came to cheer vociferously for the teams at play. Neither the J.V. nor Varsity team won, however; both lost 2 games to none. In spite of losing, RC players fought hard, and comported themselves with composed dignity.

And so the event was not all gone up in flames due to a home team rout. Judging from the attendance and the attitude observed, the event had accomplished its mission in plenary.

REFERENCES: (1) www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/understand_bc/statistics

Written by: Ifeanyi Okereke