Nearly 700 cancer advocates got a pep talk from three great Division I NCAA basketball coaches as the group prepared to head to Capitol Hill on Tuesday. Coach Ron Hunter from Georgia State University, Coach Mike Martin from Brown University, and Coach Jim Harrick (retired) from UCLA are members of Coaches vs. Cancer®, a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The coaches are in the middle of recruiting season, but took time out of their busy schedules to share their personal connections to cancer and rally the volunteers before their legislative meetings.
Coach Hunter and Georgia State Lead Ambassador Brenda Hamstead got an early start to their day. Both were dressed and ready at 6 a.m. to do radio and TV interviews for stations back home in Georgia.
Speaking to volunteers, each coach addressed why the federal investment in cancer research is essential to accelerating progress against this disease.
“Nobody can talk about cancer like a cancer survivor.” – Coach Harrick
“We told him that we would do whatever we could to bring awareness to cancer. It’s been a mission of mine ever since then.” – Coach Hunter said as he reflected on losing a close family friend to prostate cancer last year.
“One day I hope to wake up in my lifetime and read the paper that says we have found a cure. That’ll be the best win we’ve ever had.” – Coach Martin
After the rally, the coaches joined advocates from their respective states on Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers and ask them to make cancer a national priority.
I greatly appreciate the time Coaches Hunter, Martin and Harrick took to share their passion with all of us in Washington, D.C. It was a pleasure sharing the stage with them and I wish them the best of luck in the upcoming season.
Mariah Forster Olson, an ACS CAN Ambassador Constituent Team Lead (ACT Lead), traveled to Washington, D.C. this week to share her story as a childhood cancer survivor and to advocate on behalf of other patients and survivors during the 2019 Childhood Cancer Action Days.