Eustace players doing their part for cancer awareness

Kathy Hanuscin was floored at the gesture.

Last year, she attended a Bishop Eustace boys' soccer game, and to her surprise, the team dedicated the game to her. The players were wearing pink warm-up shirts with her son Nick's No. 21 them and the initials YNWA (You'll Never Walk Alone). This idea was promoted by former Eustace coach Rich Jones.

Kathy Hanuscin hadn't been able to attend previous games. She was suffering from breast cancer, and this was the team's way of showing her support, an act of kindness that overwhelmed her.

And even in her difficult time a year ago, she didn't lose her sense of humor. After Eustace lost the game to Lenape, she ribbed the team, suggesting that if the players were going to dedicate a game, they should win it.

Her son's reaction?

"She cracks me up," said Nick Hanuscin, a junior and a third-year starting defender.

Kathy Hanuscin kept her sense of humor even as she was losing her hair. Now the hair is back, she is in remission, and all seems so positive.

"The doctors say everything is fine, but as a cancer patient, you never take anything for granted," said Kathy Hanuscin, who along with husband John and their son live in Cinnaminson.

With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, countless teams such as Bishop Eustace, not only in South Jersey but nationwide, are bringing awareness to this disease.

So much good is being done by the athletes, coaches, administrators, and parents. Bishop Eustace, whose soccer team is again wearing pink warm-up shirts, symbolizes this effort.

And it has even more meaning for the soccer team since another parent, Monica Maiorino of Mount Laurel, is also a breast cancer survivor. Maiorino has two sons on the team: T.J. a senior defender, and Vince, a junior goalkeeper.

She was diagnosed five years ago, and since then, a neighbor's daughter, at age 11/2, was diagnosed with leukemia. Another friend's teenage son later was diagnosed with a form of cancer.

The little girl and boy have since passed away.

"Of the three of us, I am the only one here," Monica Maiorino said. "My boys have seen cancer from almost every angle and are very much aware and sensitive when it happens to a family member of somebody they know."

Monica Maiorino is a tireless supporter of fund-raising efforts. And she will talk to anybody who has to go through the pain she endured.

So it's no wonder that Monica and Kathy Hanuscin have developed a bond.

"She has been wonderful to me and so helpful," Hanuscin said.

This is one way sports can truly help bring people together. These two soccer moms would never have met had their sons not been on the same team.

And the players on the team have rallied to do their best to chip in. So this month, there will be a lot of athletes playing in pink.

That includes those big tough brutes from the NFL, where some players outfit themselves in pink cleats, gloves, wristbands, and chin straps.

As an aside, Pat Shurmur, head coach of the Cleveland Browns and former Eagles assistant, recently sent a package of NFL breast cancer memorabilia and gear to the Hanuscin family. Shurmur is a former Cinnaminson resident who still keeps in contact with his former neighbors.

Breast Cancer Awareness is a cause that can't get enough attention.

According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women except for skin cancer. The chance of developing invasive breast cancer at some time in a woman's life is a little less than one in eight.

In light of this, it's heartwarming to see so many in the athletic spectrum reaching out to help such a worthy cause.

Any teams aiding this effort are combining competition with compassion, understanding that there are more far-reaching goals than to just win that next game.