Sporting fields across Australia turned purple for pancreatic cancer
Football fields across Australia are set to be turned purple to raise awareness for a disease that is the third most common cancer killer in Australia this year.
During the month of June, football players from clubs and codes across the nation will be pulling on their purple socks to help raise awareness for a disease that is on track to become the third most common cancer killer in Australia this year.
The #PlayinPurple campaign is in its 7th year and continues to grow since inception with a record 7800 players wearing purple socks to raise awareness for pancreatic cancer in 2020.
Isabella Di Manno started the campaign in 2015 after the sudden death of her fiancée’s mother to the disease. Her family had always been very involved in football, and Isabella saw this as the perfect way to raise awareness and critical funds into research, improving diagnosis and treatment.
“The campaign continues to grow from strength to strength each year, drawing much needed attention to pancreatic cancer.
It’s wonderful to see the participation grow across clubs, codes and regions and reading the testimonials and talking to players, it’s clear the campaign unities communities through active participation and acts as a positive talking point between people who might not necessarily know the outcomes of pancreatic cancer,” Isabella said.
The campaign has seen fantastic growth due to the ongoing support from both Football NSW and Football West and this year Capital Football also joins to create a national footprint.
High-profile associations Manly Warringah Football Association (MWFA) and Sutherland Shire Football Association (SSFA) were the two biggest contributors with number of participating clubs.
A-League clubs Sydney FC, Perth Glory and Western Sydney Wanderers will be endorsing #PlayinPurple, sharing key campaign messages to their fans and offering high participating clubs either free match day tickets or merchandise.
“Football NSW are very proud to again be supporting such a wonderful community initiative, combining the wonderful code of football with truly ground-breaking campaigns such as #PlayinPurple,” said Football NSW CEO Stuart Hodge.
“We kindly encourage our amazing football family to do their bit in getting behind this quality initiative and we cannot wait to see the code decked out in Purple to show their support for this wonderful cause in the fight against pancreatic cancer.”
Pancreatic cancer is projected to claim more lives than breast cancer and prostate cancer, and each year almost 4,000 people will be diagnosed with approximately 80 per cent of patients diagnosed will die within 12 months. The disease has the lowest survival rates of all main cancer types, yet, despite these figures, pancreatic cancer trails behind other cancers when it comes to funding for research, receiving less than 8 per cent of the funding available
Key information:
- #PlayinPurple 2021 runs on two weekends in June (12/13 or 19/20 clubs choose their round to play in purple socks)
- All players, clubs and codes are encouraged to participate Australia wide, with a simple change of your local club socks to purple socks for one weekend!
- The PanKind purple socks are $15 per pair and the funds raised will go toward pancreatic cancer research and patient support
- We have reinvented the purple sock design this year to bring new excitement to the campaign
- A #PlayinPurple participation pack including a social media guide is provided to all clubs and teams. Campaign hashtags #playinpurple #pancreaticcancer @pankindfoundation
- Socks can be ordered through the online store https://fcw.com.au/shop-product/pankind-foundation-socks/
- Clubs and associations are able to make a direct donation to PanKind https://playinpurple.raisely.com/
Visit our #PlayinPurple resources page for videos, campaign details and participation packs here: https://pankind.org.au/take-action/playinpurple/
