High School Footballers Use Pink Power

Barbara Goleman team pays tribute to coach's wife who survived breast cancer

By ADAM KUPERSTEIN and BRIAN HAMACHER

Updated 7:38 AM EDT, Tue, Oct 27, 2009

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You normally don't think of football players being pretty in pink, but when the Barbara Goleman Senior High Gators lined up for their game last weekend, they couldn't have been prettier.

Sporting pink shoe laces, pink tape, pink ribbons in the eyeblack, and even pink undershirts to make their white uniforms look pink, the Goleman Gators felt a bit out of place.

"Everybody was pink for a football game, you know, it was weird," said player Oscar Enriquez. "It's pink, you know, you don't see a lot of guys wearing pink."

The reason for the fashion statement couldn't have been more important: breast cancer awareness.

Gridiron Goes Pink for a Cause

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Gridiron Goes Pink for a Cause

The fight against breast cancer is especially important for the Gators and their Head Coach, Leonard Patrick. Patrick's wife, Martyne, a first-grade teacher at Palm Cove Elementary, is a breast cancer survivor.

"The last four years, Coach Patrick's been like a father figure to us so when we found out that his wife had cancer it was like it hit home, it was like our mom came down with cancer," said player Mike Gomez.

So the players, along with Assistant Coach David Golarci, decided they'd paint the gridiron pink last weekend when they took on Westland High, to honor Martyne.

The power of pink prevailed. Barbara Goleman cruised to a 54-14 victory.

"Everybody just manned up I guess, if you want to say that, and wore pink and didn't really care about the color and just supported this cause," Golarci said.

It was a moving moment for Martyne.

"One by one I was getting a hug and you know [they were] saying 'hang in there, keep fighting,' so that really brought tears to my eyes," Martyne said. "Then at the end, we took a group picture and I have it at my desk at work and I look at it and I can't believe they really pulled this off."

And the players seem to have gotten used to the pink, wearing it for practices.

Coach Patrick thinks the game was not only important for his wife, but for his players to understand the struggle.

"I think it was great that they actually saw a living human being, a person who has gone through this disease and how she's recovered from it," said Coach Patrick. "But there's so many others that are still fighting it."