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Wave Gets Behind 'Go Pink' Girls'
But from one game, and hopes of raising $500 for the LeRoy Butler Foundation, the series has already grown to encompass 88 games and 50 girls’ high school soccer teams, attracted the involvement of the Milwaukee Wave professional indoor soccer team and could raise as much as $100,000 for the fight against breast cancer. At 7 p.m. Friday, the series comes to Kenosha Tremper, where it was founded by girls’ soccer coach Todd Hardy. Tremper faces Wilmot, and former Packers’ star LeRoy Butler will be joined by Milwaukee Wave Head Coach Keith Tozer and players Marcio Leite and Marcel Feenstra as part of the festivities. The celebrities will sign autographs beginning at 6 p.m.; Butler’s signatures are $10 each and all money raised will go to the foundation. Souvenir pink soccer balls, signed by Butler and the Wave players, will be raffled off during the game. Hardy’s mother is a breast cancer survivor, having been diagnosed almost 20 years ago. His involvement also grew from his association with the Student Government community service group at Tremper. The LBF wanted to work with kids, and learned of Hardy through a mutual contact. When Hardy took a call from Wilmot Union High School about scheduling a game, (Coach Shelley Ericksen’s mother-in-law is also a breast cancer survivor) the idea of using the game to raise funds for the foundation and involve students in the process was hatched. “We were realistically talking about raising $500,” Hardy said. But then Hardy called other coaches in the Southeast Conference. They liked the idea, so Hardy then began calling and e-mailing coaches around the area. Soon, the program was far bigger than anyone had imagined it could become. The first game was March 24 between Slinger and Whitefish Bay, and the Go Pink series continues throughout the girls’ soccer season. At the time the games were kicking off, Wave Account Executive Steve Goralski called the LBF looking to build some kind of partnership relating to cancer awareness. Goralski’s mother is also a breast cancer survivor, but he had no idea about the Go Pink series until making the call. The fit was seamless; Wave players are now visiting select Go Pink games and the team is raffling off pink soccer balls autographed by the team. Plans are in the works for a Go Pink Wave game next February at the U.S. Cellular Arena. >“The Go Pink series is an extraordinary outreach by the LeRoy Butler Foundation and all the girls’ high school soccer players participating,” said Matt Schroeder, vice president of communications for the Wave. “We’re honored to support this effort and look forward to making it bigger and better over the coming months and years.” Founded last summer by the Milwaukee Wave, Detroit Ignition, New Jersey Ironmen and Chicago Storm, the Xtreme Soccer League is more than an indoor soccer league. The Xtreme Soccer Xperience is an energetic and innovative 12-month sports lifestyle brand built around skilled soccer professionals, entertainment and fan participation -- both live and online. For more information, visit XtremeSL.net.
MILWAUKEE – The Go Pink Girls’ Soccer Series was founded this year with modest expectations.
