Junior Lady Vees display their true colours

BY KENT CORNESS

Most girls in junior high school don't need an excuse to wear pink, so when Sacre-Coeur coach John Desormeaux asked his Junior Lady Vees to wear all pink in support of breast cancer awareness, he was met with little opposition.

"We're just really pumped and getting all into it, dying our hair pink and everything," said Emily Tymchuk, starting line-up post, who has had family members fight breast cancer.

The team heads down south for the provincial club championships this weekend and will be wearing their pink jerseys in all games.

The Junior Lady Vees traded in their old uniforms for all-pink ones - not just in support of breast cancer awareness, but also to support a former Junior Lady Vees player Carolyn Sturges, formerly Carolyn Swords, who is struggling with the disease, and the cause has given the girls a sense of pride.

"It's a really good feeling to know that we're helping Carolyn and that we're representing breast cancer awareness."

said Junior Lady Veees captain and point guard, Chelsea Serafini. "Now that we have the uniforms on, I feel like I'm representing something and I want to try extra hard so I can make Carolyn proud."

Sturges has been struggling with breast cancer for the past few years and was very excited when Desormeaux mentioned what the girls would be doing for her. Having Sturges as motivation is going to fuel the team's drive to be the best in the province. The girls hope to better last year's bronze medal finish at the Ontario championship.

"Hopefully we'll come back with a gold medal," said Serafini.

The team heads into the provincials this weekend, playing three games back-to-back. On Friday, they begin their push for gold against Brantford at 8:30 pm, then play a double-header on Saturday against Brampton and Burlington at 11 am and 5 pm. Desormeaux said their biggest challenge will be Brampton.

Tymchuk is one of the many players on the team who towers over the competition at just under six feet, but she believes it's not just size that is helping them win games.

"Our team is really well-rounded and it's really deep...so our players coming off our bench are just as strong as our starting five," said Tymchuk.

Size isn't the only asset the Junior Lady Vees possess.

"They're the top girls in northern Ontario, and now we're not just representing Sudbury but we also represent awareness for breast cancer,"  said Desormeaux.

The cause may have given the girls' spirits a much needed boost as they head into the weekend, but more importantly it has given them something to be proud of year-round. Already, plans are underway for the entire team to participate in a run for breast cancer awareness in the spring.