NCAA staffer Brenda Reimer discusses her daughter's seventh grade basketball team and its role in the "Think Pink" effort.

Rally – it means to come together, to unite. That’s what the Hamilton Southeastern Junior High School girls basketball teams did last night - rallied to win a basketball game and rallied together for one of their own. This season has become less about winning and more about heart and appreciation for a team member’s mom who is fighting breast cancer.

Last night was a proud moment for me both as a parent and as an employee of the NCAA. As a parent, I witnessed as my daughter participated in an athletic contest that was about much more than a final score…a basketball game between two opposing and normally fiesty teams. But on this night there was unity, as the girls came together and wore pink socks, joining the officials who had pink whistles, uniting with fans who wore pink ribbons and pink t-shirts, and bringing together everyone in the building to “Think Pink.”

And as an NCAA employee, to see how our local junior high got behind the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s “Think Pink Week” promotion by wanting to honor a team member’s mother and be part of what female collegiate student-athletes across the country are doing was inspiring. These junior high girls look up to the college student-athletes, and were proud to unite under one color with their role models…to wear pink and raise awareness for this cause.

Isn’t that really what matters? Having a sense of a greater community, having heart, helping those in need, excelling and giving your all in everything you do? Isn’t that what we want from and what we see in so many of our female student-athletes from junior high to college? When these girls no longer remember the scores of their junior high games, the memories of nights like this will remain.

Thank you to the WBCA for so creatively bringing awareness for all of us through “Think Pink Week.” This shows what can come from a partnership between communities – university and extended – to benefit a community of women and men who are afflicted with this disease. Thanks to the NABC for their continued and inspiring work with Coaches vs. Cancer and the Jimmy V Foundation. Thanks also to the NCAA Women’s Basketball staff and committee for their support of these efforts along with NCAA officials through the Calling for a Cure campaign.

And a big thank you to the administration, coaches and student council at Hamilton Southeastern Junior High School, who grabbed hold of this effort and got so many people involved. And to the student-athletes on those participating teams last night who exemplified all of the character and heart we hope all of our student-athletes across the country display – thank you for making your parents proud.

On this Valentine’s Day and until we find a cure, I encourage all of you to continue to Think Pink!