WAILUA — The girls are so happy with the results, they want to do again. The second annual Breast Cancer Awareness Soccer Event at the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Sports Park was a huge success on Saturday, said Emily Medeiros. Nearly
WAILUA — The girls are so happy with the results, they want to do again.
The second annual Breast Cancer Awareness Soccer Event at the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Sports Park was a huge success on Saturday, said Emily Medeiros.
Nearly three dozen women collected donations at the Wailua facility to benefit the American Cancer Society. The collection was broken down into teams who played a round robin tournament format.
“Much mahalo go out to the volunteers who make this happen,” said Charlene Quinones, Medeiros’ aunt and former athletic director for Kauai High School. “There are some officials like Sal and Aggie Marti who are so committed to the game, they come out to volunteer their time so these people can have fun.”
Medeiros said other contributors include Duke’s and Keoki’s Paradise whose contribution enabled her to buy shirts for the women participants as well as provide them with a light meal. She said other contributors like Deja Vu provided items which could be used as random number prizes.
“The money contributed by the girls is for the American Cancer Society,” Medeiros said. “We’ve even asked that it be kept to benefit Kauai.”
Medeiros said she played high school soccer, and as an adult, continues to like playing soccer. She took that desire and, coupled with her experience with cancer, felt she could help while pursuing her passion for soccer.
“I lost my mother to breast cancer,” Medeiros said. “I have an aunt who is a cancer survivor, and since I like playing soccer, I thought we could help the fight against the disease by playing soccer.”
Chandra Bertsch said she plays co-ed soccer and came out to support the event.
“This is much fun,” Bertsch said. “I continue to support the associations and groups who support women soccer. I also support the fight against cancer.”
Tammi Fernandez, a former high school soccer standout, also is an advocate for women’s soccer.
“I’m here to support women’s soccer on Kauai,” Fernandez said. “We have to get it going. I also support breast cancer awareness, and if we have fun doing it, all the better.”
