Wednesday, October 12, 2011

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - It is difficult to find someone who has not been touched by cancer and the Lipscomb Bisons soccer team is no exception.

In Sunday night’s 2-1 win over Belmont at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex the players wore pink arm bands to show their support of cancer awareness programs.

“Everybody has been impact by cancer either with family members or friends,” Bisons’ coach Charles Morrow said. “We do this because we want to always be mindful of the mission of the school and what we are all about. We want to conduct ourselves in a way that we are glorifying God.”

But they did far more than simply add the pink color. They also sold raffle tickets for an autographed jersey with Tyler Burkhardt, whose mother lost her battle with cancer, leading the way selling 30 tickets.

“The raffle was great,” Morrow said. “When the players see that the coaches are behind it they are more apt to get involved.”

The team raised $1,300 to be given to the American Cancer Society, easily surpassing their goal of $600.

“There is still so much money needed to fight cancer,” Morrow said. “Just like everything we do with our program we hope that we can build on it and make it better.”

The Bisons’ coaching staff has been a leader in the Atlantic Sun in promoting cancer awareness through soccer games. Assistant coach Kevin Burk has been extremely active in promoting the program. There are nine soccer teams in the conference and Morrow and Burk would like to see them all join the program.

“We have had conference calls as coaches,” Morrow said. “For a year or two we talked about needing to do something and it didn’t happen.

“Last year Kevin did a great job of taking it on himself to organize it. And he did it himself again this year.”

Morrow and Burk never miss a chance to remind their players how good their lives are on a daily basis.

“As coaches and players we are very blessed and lucky to be in the positions that we are in,” Morrow said. “Any time we can use our influence or share our stage with something for good we definitely want to do that.”

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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an NCAA Division I league with 10 member institutions committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun meets the challenge of maintaining the highest standards in academic and athletic achievement with a true balance between student and athlete. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.