Coventry Rams to Honor Cancer Survivors in 'Pink Out' Event

A Coventry youth football and cheerleading league is hoping to make Rice Memorial Field as pink as possible this weekend.

The second annual Coventry Rams “Pink Out” will help raise money and awareness for cancer during its football games on Sunday.

“It is a day to celebrate the life of all those in our Rams family who are not only survivors, but also friends and family of survivors,” event coordinator Rebecca Simon said.

All of the players have worn pink throughout the month of October to raise awareness of breast cancer, but the Rams are also holding a ceremony to celebrate the lives of all cancer survivors and to remember the people that were lost from the disease.

Pink bows, pink hats, pink shoelaces and pink footballs will be for sale throughout the day. “Everyone there is invited to wear pink,” Simon said. “Including the other teams.”

There will be pink towels, pink armbands and even pink balloons at the games. “The whole field should be pink,” she said.

The main ceremony kicks off at 11:45 a.m. and players will escort the survivors onto the field to be recognized. The ceremony is open to all cancer survivors, not just those who have suffered from breast cancer.

There will be an honor guard on the field and officials from the town will give a speech, including state Rep. Lisa Tomasso.

Twelve-year-old cheerleader Gabby Brzoza will sing a song a cappella for the survivors at the ceremony. “She has a really awesome, special song prepared for them,” Simon said.

A pink fire truck from Rhode Island Chapter Pink Heals will be at the games for people to sign in memory of those diagnosed with cancer and the Rams will make a donation to the organization. The Rams will also be make a donation to Misty Lourenco’s family. Lourenco is the team “mom” for Warwick PAL football and was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma bone cancer in July.

Simon expects the main ceremony to have about 100 to 200 people in attendance and hopes the event will get bigger and better each year. “Throughout the course of the day, there is about a thousand people there,” she said.

Four games will be held on Sunday at Rice Field. See the full schedule here. The cancer survivors will also be honored during each of the games’ halftimes.

The cost is $3 to attend for the entire day. “Everyone is welcome,” Simon said.

“It’s a day of celebration, remembrance and a lot of football,” she said.

Photo Credit: Coventry Rams Facebook page