University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Soccer Reflects on Family Breast Cancer Experiences, Pink Game
10/29/2020 4:22:00 PM | Women's Soccer
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Student-athletes have a voice. They play for their school colors across state, and sometimes international, lines. Their faces help represent the front porch of their universities.
And in other circumstances, they have the opportunity to influence lives beyond the game.
Southern Miss Soccer has prided itself on striving for excellence on and off the field. The program may not have had the opportunity for intercollegiate competition this fall due to COVID-19, but that did not stop them from donning a color on the pitch that shines bright and raises awareness for something that has affected several of the program's family members.
Olivia Durham, JoAnnie Ramos and Hailey Rogers, as well as assistant coach J.P. Valadares, shared their experiences as October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, comes to a close. The squad held an intrasquad gold-and-pink game on Friday, Oct. 16.
"We've always tried to recognize breast cancer and those who have battled it, as well as educating people," head coach Mohammed El-Zare said. "It took off about five years ago and we've recently made it a tradition. It's not only about the game, but for those who have fought breast cancer and are getting screened and things like that. I feel that this year, we are more personal about it with so many being affected with their family members. The intrasquad aspect almost made it even more meaningful."
JoAnnie: "My grandma had it. When she was 18, she had a lump in her breast right after her wedding with my grandpa. When my mom was in high school, she had a lump the size of a lemon and they removed that. Probably about 15 years ago or so, she continuously had lumps and cysts over and over again. They were mostly benign, but there was one surgery where she had 60-70 cysts in her breasts. I think in 1999 or 2000 they put her on a medication for five years that stopped sending estrogen there, and since then she's had the mammograms and such. She's been high-risk because of the lumps and cysts, but she's never had to go through chemo or have a mastectomy. It's still breast cancer potential."
Hailey: "My grandma was similar to Jo's. She never had serious surgery but had a lot of cysts when she was 25-26. She had my uncle and my dad, so there were a lot of doctors' appointments and she still goes back for checkups. I think it was when she was 30, a few years later it had gone away and gotten serious again. She was always going to the doctor and getting treatments but has never had surgery."
J.P.: "My mom would always do her own exams to try to find something and never did. When she retired, she would go to checkups and had a mammogram, and cancer was found at a very early stage. Before chemo she did radiotherapy to see if they could get it out, but instead she went through chemo, and it's been two years now. She's been on some medications, but she's also at risk with the pandemic and needs to watch out. She's been two years cancer-free."
Hailey: "The (intrasquad pink) game meant a lot to my grandma. I wasn't alive when she was fighting the cancer, so things like the game and raising awareness from walks and any time her name was written on a poster was meaningful. I didn't know much about her cancer because I wasn't there, but the kind of stuff we do means a lot to her."
J.P.: "With me, there was a lot that happened. International students (Valadares being a Brazil native) have to stay a period of time to stay legally in the country. For some reason, I don't remember, honestly it was just God that forced me to take summer classes, and I took four to graduate early. Those three months of summer, I was able to fly back home and be there for her during her first chemotherapy sessions, and I stayed there for almost two months. I was able to travel and stay there a little while, I had support from all my teachers but one being very understanding and supporting my decision to take finals before. Because of her cancer, my mom wasn't able to see me graduate in person, after being the person that most invested and appreciated my journey to come to a different country to get a degree. However, I'm blessed that she won a tough battle and is able to see me getting my master's.
"The first way I found support, my mom was being there while I was away. Second, I thought about shaving my head, and I'm very particular about my hair. I decided to let it grow, so I could donate to people who do wigs, and my mom wore one too. That really touched my heart when I saw my mom, and I thought that was a way to support her and others. I had long hair for a while. It did not look good, but it was for a good cause."
JoAnnie: "With my grandma, I didn't really know why we were going to Florida and the hospital so much until years later, and my grandpa would say to cherish every moment you have because you don't know what's coming. Spend time, take pictures and you'll always have college and your friends, but with your family you'll never know what's going on with them as you get older. It's cliche, but be positive and take what you get and do what you can with it."
Hailey: "My grandpa had cancer too when he was older, and she was a lot healthier then and could help him. He passed away when I was in middle school, and it was a big deal when he would come to my soccer games. I never really thought of it then, but when he was older and was getting sick and couldn't come anymore, I thought I had taken it for granted. My grandma thought it was important because she wouldn't have been able to do that years before he got sick, and she was able to go. Being able to see him and go out in public and not take it for granted, everyday tasks and stuff like that."
J.P.: "Cherish every moment, enjoy every chance with the people you love. Be there for them and support them however you can, from calls to understanding how rough chemotherapy is and when they say they're sick, there's a reason behind that. There's a lot of medicine in their body and being able to understand and support as much as we can. We should always encourage and remind people to do check-ups on not just breast cancer, but any other kind."
JoAnnie: "I know my freshman year and the one before, we always had a game with pink socks and a warmup t-shirt. But last year was the first with a pink jersey. Besides my being at Southern Miss, I couldn't say when it started. Where I'm from, Texas high school football is a culture and they had pink games, but in college, I enjoyed it more because it's such a family. Some schools will have different games like a gold-out for pediatric cancer and white-out for colorectal cancer because that's also really invasive."
Hailey: "Well, last year was my first here. I knew they did the pink-out with different uniform aspects, and I was super excited to get to do that. The surprise was special, and this year we wrote all the family names on the poster. I didn't know we were going to do it and my grandma didn't either. She wasn't there, but I got to send a picture of that and us in the jerseys, so that was really cool."
J.P.: "For me it was just amazing to play again (in the intrasquad game), and in pink, because any time something is related to cancer I have to take everything in and be fortunate that my mom is still in my life. It's a very good experience. I knew the game was happening this year."
And in other circumstances, they have the opportunity to influence lives beyond the game.
Southern Miss Soccer has prided itself on striving for excellence on and off the field. The program may not have had the opportunity for intercollegiate competition this fall due to COVID-19, but that did not stop them from donning a color on the pitch that shines bright and raises awareness for something that has affected several of the program's family members.
Olivia Durham, JoAnnie Ramos and Hailey Rogers, as well as assistant coach J.P. Valadares, shared their experiences as October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, comes to a close. The squad held an intrasquad gold-and-pink game on Friday, Oct. 16.
"We've always tried to recognize breast cancer and those who have battled it, as well as educating people," head coach Mohammed El-Zare said. "It took off about five years ago and we've recently made it a tradition. It's not only about the game, but for those who have fought breast cancer and are getting screened and things like that. I feel that this year, we are more personal about it with so many being affected with their family members. The intrasquad aspect almost made it even more meaningful."
Where It Began
Olivia: "My mom, when I was in third grade, was diagnosed for the first time, and it came back when I was in the sixth grade. The first time it was Stage 2, and they removed the cancer while she went through chemo and lost her hair. The second time, she ended up getting a double mastectomy, which is a very big surgery, and ever since then she's been clean and that's good. She doesn't really have any limitations now. Her doctor said to be careful with the coronavirus since she has a big risk from that. She goes every year, and she's past the 10-year mark which is a really big deal and means your odds go down a lot for it to come back. She's very healthy and has no other issues."JoAnnie: "My grandma had it. When she was 18, she had a lump in her breast right after her wedding with my grandpa. When my mom was in high school, she had a lump the size of a lemon and they removed that. Probably about 15 years ago or so, she continuously had lumps and cysts over and over again. They were mostly benign, but there was one surgery where she had 60-70 cysts in her breasts. I think in 1999 or 2000 they put her on a medication for five years that stopped sending estrogen there, and since then she's had the mammograms and such. She's been high-risk because of the lumps and cysts, but she's never had to go through chemo or have a mastectomy. It's still breast cancer potential."
Hailey: "My grandma was similar to Jo's. She never had serious surgery but had a lot of cysts when she was 25-26. She had my uncle and my dad, so there were a lot of doctors' appointments and she still goes back for checkups. I think it was when she was 30, a few years later it had gone away and gotten serious again. She was always going to the doctor and getting treatments but has never had surgery."
J.P.: "My mom would always do her own exams to try to find something and never did. When she retired, she would go to checkups and had a mammogram, and cancer was found at a very early stage. Before chemo she did radiotherapy to see if they could get it out, but instead she went through chemo, and it's been two years now. She's been on some medications, but she's also at risk with the pandemic and needs to watch out. She's been two years cancer-free."
Support
Olivia: "I have an older sister who's three years older than me. I was very young when it was happening. When they first told my sister and I, we didn't know what it was going to consist of. My mom worked at the elementary school I was going to at the time, and my mom sheltered a lot of it from us, like the long nights where she was so sick from chemo and had to go in so early for radiation. She really hid that from my sister and I and we didn't see a lot of that. At least I didn't, because I was very much younger. We had a really big support system at my school with her being a worker there, and it was real hard when she started losing her hair and wore wigs all the time. It was very different because people would ask me why she was doing that and how they knew what it was. I would say 'it's not a wig,' and would be in denial about that. When it came back the second time, I was a little bit older and my family had gone through a lot more at that time. The second time around I was much more involved, because a double mastectomy is a lot more work after the surgery. It was a lot of drains and stuff she was on for weeks and weeks at a time. I had to be more involved, and that was helpful that I could do that at the time. It was definitely scarier when it came back the second time, because we didn't know if she would have to go through chemo again or lose her hair from radiation. That time it was scarier, but we coped a lot better than the first time."
JoAnnie: "Obviously, I wasn't alive when my grandmother was having her cysts and lungs, but we did live in Tampa up until I was in kindergarten. I remember going to the hospital and my mom saying it was for my grandma, but not really for the surgeries and things like that. When I moved to Texas, we made a lot of trips back to take care of my grandpa because he was also sick, and he hadn't declined that much so he could still go to the hospital with us. He has Alzheimer's and wasn't too far into it then. He could still do things, and as that progressed and she would have more surgeries, we would make the trips more frequently and take care of him in the house. Besides that, raising awareness and little things like the [Southern Miss Soccer Pink Game] and doing different walks whenever I could attend them. That was how I could do mine."
Hailey: "The (intrasquad pink) game meant a lot to my grandma. I wasn't alive when she was fighting the cancer, so things like the game and raising awareness from walks and any time her name was written on a poster was meaningful. I didn't know much about her cancer because I wasn't there, but the kind of stuff we do means a lot to her."
J.P.: "With me, there was a lot that happened. International students (Valadares being a Brazil native) have to stay a period of time to stay legally in the country. For some reason, I don't remember, honestly it was just God that forced me to take summer classes, and I took four to graduate early. Those three months of summer, I was able to fly back home and be there for her during her first chemotherapy sessions, and I stayed there for almost two months. I was able to travel and stay there a little while, I had support from all my teachers but one being very understanding and supporting my decision to take finals before. Because of her cancer, my mom wasn't able to see me graduate in person, after being the person that most invested and appreciated my journey to come to a different country to get a degree. However, I'm blessed that she won a tough battle and is able to see me getting my master's.
"The first way I found support, my mom was being there while I was away. Second, I thought about shaving my head, and I'm very particular about my hair. I decided to let it grow, so I could donate to people who do wigs, and my mom wore one too. That really touched my heart when I saw my mom, and I thought that was a way to support her and others. I had long hair for a while. It did not look good, but it was for a good cause."
Advice for those in similar situations
Olivia: "For me, since I was very young but very involved with it, me, my mom and sister would have a journal and do that with each other back and forth. If we had questions we would talk through that, because that was a way for her to explain to us what was going on since we were young. It was a great way for my sister and I to comprehend what was going on. For the second surgery, my sister took initiative and helped her with anything. We were supportive and understanding of certain things that were going on."JoAnnie: "With my grandma, I didn't really know why we were going to Florida and the hospital so much until years later, and my grandpa would say to cherish every moment you have because you don't know what's coming. Spend time, take pictures and you'll always have college and your friends, but with your family you'll never know what's going on with them as you get older. It's cliche, but be positive and take what you get and do what you can with it."
Hailey: "My grandpa had cancer too when he was older, and she was a lot healthier then and could help him. He passed away when I was in middle school, and it was a big deal when he would come to my soccer games. I never really thought of it then, but when he was older and was getting sick and couldn't come anymore, I thought I had taken it for granted. My grandma thought it was important because she wouldn't have been able to do that years before he got sick, and she was able to go. Being able to see him and go out in public and not take it for granted, everyday tasks and stuff like that."
J.P.: "Cherish every moment, enjoy every chance with the people you love. Be there for them and support them however you can, from calls to understanding how rough chemotherapy is and when they say they're sick, there's a reason behind that. There's a lot of medicine in their body and being able to understand and support as much as we can. We should always encourage and remind people to do check-ups on not just breast cancer, but any other kind."
Pink Game Efforts
Olivia: "My sophomore year is when we had the jerseys, and nobody knew we had them and were gonna wear them. We walked into the locker room and they were all hanging on our lockers. It was super cool, so when we walked out my mom was so excited. My mom was at the game, and it was her 10-year anniversary, or as she says her 'cancerversary,' so it was so cool for her to see that."JoAnnie: "I know my freshman year and the one before, we always had a game with pink socks and a warmup t-shirt. But last year was the first with a pink jersey. Besides my being at Southern Miss, I couldn't say when it started. Where I'm from, Texas high school football is a culture and they had pink games, but in college, I enjoyed it more because it's such a family. Some schools will have different games like a gold-out for pediatric cancer and white-out for colorectal cancer because that's also really invasive."
Hailey: "Well, last year was my first here. I knew they did the pink-out with different uniform aspects, and I was super excited to get to do that. The surprise was special, and this year we wrote all the family names on the poster. I didn't know we were going to do it and my grandma didn't either. She wasn't there, but I got to send a picture of that and us in the jerseys, so that was really cool."J.P.: "For me it was just amazing to play again (in the intrasquad game), and in pink, because any time something is related to cancer I have to take everything in and be fortunate that my mom is still in my life. It's a very good experience. I knew the game was happening this year."
In honor of:
Ariel Diaz - Susan Diaz (great-grandmother)
Olivia Durham - Marsha Durham (mother)
Madisyn Flammia - Debby Treadwell (grandmother)
Mackenzie Hamilton - Lori Hinojosa and Marcia Pinkstaff (aunts)
Hannah Moody - Maureen Sacramona (grandmother)
Macie Pennington - Kathleen O'Connor (aunt)
Hailey Pohevitz - Beth Pohevitz (aunt)
Hailey Rogers - Anne Rogers (grandmother)
Mya Ryan - Victoria Da Sant (aunt)
J.P. Valadares - Marcia R. Valadares (mother)
Sonya Varnell (sport administrator) - Herself
Ariel Diaz - Susan Diaz (great-grandmother)
Olivia Durham - Marsha Durham (mother)
Madisyn Flammia - Debby Treadwell (grandmother)
Mackenzie Hamilton - Lori Hinojosa and Marcia Pinkstaff (aunts)
Hannah Moody - Maureen Sacramona (grandmother)
Macie Pennington - Kathleen O'Connor (aunt)
Hailey Pohevitz - Beth Pohevitz (aunt)
Hailey Rogers - Anne Rogers (grandmother)
Mya Ryan - Victoria Da Sant (aunt)
J.P. Valadares - Marcia R. Valadares (mother)
Sonya Varnell (sport administrator) - Herself
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Soccer
M
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
F/D
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
M
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's Soccer
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