Every October, the sports world is blanketed in a sea of pink.

From wristbands to socks, field paint to uniforms, teams take on a pinkish hue to honor survivors and victims as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

For Warren Central Junior High’s cheerleading team, however, wearing pink is about more than just looking cool and easy slogans. Two of its members, Jane Hopson and Anita Reed, are daughters of breast cancer survivors. Their mothers, Ali Hopson and JonDenise Reed, talked to the squad recently about their battle with the disease and tried to educate them about the reasons behind the pink explosion that occurs every October.

“We also talked to them about how, being cheerleaders, it’s more than just wearing pink for the month of October. Sometimes I think it can get wrapped up in that,” Ali Hopson said. “It’s fun to have the bows and the pom-poms and the socks and stuff, but we wanted them to be able to give back and do something to inspire other people.”

The cheerleading squad is doing plenty this week to raise awareness. While cheering at Friday’s varsity game against Madison Central, the squad wore pink bows and used pom-poms tinged in pink.
For Tuesday’s junior high football season finale against Vicksburg, the cheerleaders will lead a “pink out.”

Members will wear pink and fans are encouraged to do the same. They’ve made signs and posters honoring breast cancer survivors and will send some of them to area hospitals.

Tuesday’s game is at 6 p.m. at Warren Central’s Viking Stadium.

WCJH cheerleading coach Brianne Baggett said the idea behind the effort was to hammer home the notion that breast cancer is a real life condition and not just an abstract idea.

“We usually do the pink every year, but we’ve never had a parent that’s been a survivor or diagnosed with it. So we thought it was very important this year, because it hits home,” Baggett said.

Even for Jane Hopson and Anita Reed, it was good to hear their mothers’ stories. The eighth-graders were both younger when their mothers were diagnosed, and said they didn’t grasp the seriousness of it.

“I was probably in the second grade when she was diagnosed and I didn’t really understand the seriousness of it,” Anita Reed said. “I didn’t know there was a possibility she could die, so I wasn’t worried about it. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized how lucky I am to have a mother that’s strong enough to survive.”

JonDenise Reed said the message was simple — be aware, but not fearful of cancer.

“We just told them about making sure that they check themselves and that it’s never too early to start doing that,” JonDenise Reed said. “We talked about how strong our family was, and helping us through this. Just letting them know that it’s not the end of the world. It’s just a diagnosis.”