In front of a sea of pink in Crisler Center on Sunday, the No. 12 Michigan women’s basketball team will be playing for more than just a win.
The Wolverines will take on Nebraska at home in the program’s 15th annual Pink Game to raise awareness and honor breast cancer survivors. To celebrate survivors, Michigan will don jerseys and shoes featuring pink. Additionally, fans will receive pink T-shirts and pom-poms in a pink-out effort.
During Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico’s first season with the Wolverines 11 years ago, the program partnered with the American Cancer Society to connect with breast cancer survivors for a team dinner the night before the Pink Game. This year, that dinner took place Friday night, and survivors once again shared their stories with the team.
“It’s probably one of the most impactful nights every year inside our program,” Barnes Arico told WTKA. “It just gives us such an appreciation for how fortunate, how blessed, how lucky we are to be in this position. And just to hear some of these stories of these women and the struggles that they have gone through to battle cancer and just to celebrate them and and try to do whatever we can to help in cancer research and cancer funding moving forward.”
The dinner provides a moving and educational experience to the program. Last season, however, with COVID-19 surging, the team wasn’t able to take part in the tradition as usual. Instead, they had another survivor speak to the team — sophomore guard Ari Wiggins’s mom, Camille.
“I think that was probably one of my core memories,” Ari said Feb. 7. “She got to meet my team, my team got to understand her as a person and her journey through breast cancer.”
Camille is a breast cancer survivor, and her words brought a lot of perspective to the team.
“(She) just gave us a picture of the meaning of life,” sophomore guard Jordan Hobbs said Feb. 7. “Like we (put) so much thought and time into basketball and we think that’s the end-all be-all a lot of times and it’s our whole identity a lot.
“But life is so much more important than that. And your impact on people is so much more important, and we can use basketball to do that and the Pink Game to spread awareness and everything.”
Being in the weeds of practice, lifts, film, games and all the work that goes into being a high-level athlete can cause people to be focused on just their sport. So having a person who tells a story so personal and courageous is extremely impactful for those even without a direct personal connection to breast cancer. It allows them to take a step back and recognize their position.
Each battle with breast cancer is impactful and carries a significance that’s hard to describe. But that meaning extends beyond the scope of one game.
“So my auntie had breast cancer as well,” freshman forward Chyra Evans said. “And she probably had it when I was about maybe 11 or 12. … She was sort of like a second mom to me. So I think, like Ari said, going into this game, it’s sort of like playing for something bigger than basketball … I’d say a lot bigger than basketball.”
For survivors and their loved ones, the Pink Game means more. It’s a celebration of surviving an arduous battle and also making an impact by raising awareness and drawing attention to it.
“My great grandma and grandma had it, and my grandma actually had it when I was in high school and she was able to take down breast cancer,” freshman forward Alyssa Crockett said. “And I think this game is a celebration of all those people who were able to survive and get out of that, but also just a fight for awareness for people who in the future will have breast cancer. So I think it’s just bigger than basketball and being able to play for people that are survivors and just really willing to take down that journey.”
For Ari, this is her second chance getting to play for her mom. Each Pink Game holds a personal significance greater than any other game.
“They mean a lot because just for her and just me and my mom, it reminds me (that) she’s a survivor, she’s a fighter,” Ari said. “When I go into that game, we’re playing for something bigger than us at this point. I’m playing for my mom and then also playing for the teammates that I have who have people who’ve either survived or have lost their lives because of breast cancer. But I think now (that) I’m in college and can experience the Pink Game, it means a lot to me.
“And that game, I am literally just playing for my mom because that’s the biggest role model I have right now.”
For Ari and so many others, the Pink Game means more. It’s about a battle far greater than any game between the Wolverines and their opponents. It’s not just wearing the color pink. It’s a reminder of the immense challenges that fighters and survivors face and have overcome and the inspiration they are.
It’s so much bigger than basketball.
To support the battle against breast cancer, consider donating here.