Information Provided By Southern Connecticut Sports Information


NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven and Southern Connecticut State University Athletic Departments have joined together in support of the 2010 Pink Zone® initiative. The two departments will be selling Pink Zone® t-shirts with each university’s logo all week long, prior to Saturday’s basketball doubleheader at Charger Gymnasium. The two Universities’ women’s basketball coaches and players gathered Thursday morning at the Hospital of Saint Raphael with Dr. Denise Barajas, the Co-Director of Saint Raphael’s Women’s Center for Breast Health for a brief photograph to recognize the cause. Proceeds of the joint fund raising effort will go to support of the Father Michael J. McGivney Center for Cancer Care at the Hospital of Saint Raphael and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/Kay Yow Cancer Fund.

The Pink Zone® event, which will take place in conjunction with the NCAA Division II Community Engagement initiative, brings coaches and players together off the court in support of a common cause. The two Universities, which share the same geographic community, look to continue to strengthen their community connection with this event.

This past fall, the Universities held a football captain’s dinner which brought the departments together for the first time. Along with numerous other community engagement initiatives by each University, the two plan to unite once again this spring for a spring cleanup project along the Connecticut shoreline.

Information on the Pink Zone®
The WBCA Pink Zone® initiative is a global, unified effort for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond.

Pink Zone® History
The WBCA began the WBCA Pink Zone®, formerly known as "Think Pink", in 2007 as an initiative to raise breast cancer awareness in women's basketball, on campuses and in communities. Kay Yow, former North Carolina State University head women's basketball coach, served as the catalyst for the initiative after her third reoccurrence of breast cancer in 2006. In 2007, more than 120 schools unified for this effort and helped make the inaugural year a success. In 2008, over 1,200 teams and organizations participated, reaching over 830,000 fans and raising over $930,000 for breast cancer awareness and research. The 2009 campaign raised over $1.3 million, reached over 912,000 fans, unified more than 1,600 participating teams and organizations, and saw 56+ schools break attendance records at their event.