Blues go pink to kick against cancer

By Paul Pickering
THE Catani Blues will turn pink this April in a heartfelt bid to raise funds and awareness for the Cancer Council of Victoria.
Catani footballers and netballers will swap their traditional navy blue strips for hot pink for the Footy Kicks Cancer day at Catani Recreation Reserve on 4 April.
The event, which was conceived as a nod to several club members who have been affected by the disease, will ensure that Catani’s round-one Ellinbank and District Football League fixture against old foe Nyora is a blockbuster.
Seniors and reserves’ players will wear the pink jumpers and socks, while all junior players will don the socks and the club’s six netball teams will wear pink bibs.
All money from the sale of pink uniforms will go to the Cancer Council of Victoria and the club will also donate funds from raffles, auctions and gate takings.
The day will have special significance for cancer survivor and Catani dual premiership captain Michael Stockx.
Stockx, 28, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease in 2005 and famously played through his chemotherapy treatments to lead the Blues to an upset grand final win over Nyora.
The talented midfielder played on until the end of the 2007 season, before receiving the devastating news that the disease had returned.
He is now in remission again, and, despite retiring from football, said he was “fighting fit” and looking forward to the April event.
“It should be a good day,” he said.
“Hopefully everyone can get behind it and we can raise a little bit more awareness.”
Stockx’s courage has been an inspiration to his teammates, but he is equally keen to acknowledge the role football played in his recovery.
“It just gets you out of the house,” he said.
“I probably only trained once a week (during the 2005 season), but even that gives you something to think about instead of just feeling sick.”
Stockx has even enlisted the support of another cancer survivor in long-time friend and former Essendon star Adam Ramanauskas to promote the event. The pair played basketball together at Dandenong as juniors and have remained friends.
The event is being organised by another of Stockx’s friends, Angela Stone, and sponsored by Kelly’s Hotel in Cranbourne.
Stone said the colour pink was chosen because it would stand out, but the club is hoping to use different coloured strips to highlight various forms of cancer in the future.
St Kilda Football Club has donated a handful of items for auction, not least of which being a team mascot experience for one lucky kid at the Saints’ round-six clash against the Western Bulldogs at the Docklands.
For further information, or to provide support for the event, call Angela on 0418 373 413.