It’s a very important week on the Eastern Football Netball League calendar with this weekend’s BCNA Round, in support of Australians that have been affected by breast cancer.
One team of the EFNL that has done a power of work to raise money for this cause has been the Lysterfield Wolves Under 12’s Teal side, raising an incredible $7,300 dollars for the NBCF #Zerohero campaign.
It’s been an incredible achievement with up to 12 of the boys on the side shaving or cutting their hair over the last fortnight.
It all stems back to 11-year-old Olly Oldfield, last weekend’s Eastland Junior Player of the Week who cut off his mullet and shaved his head for donations to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
Olly’s mother, Rosie Oldfield noted the mullets of the young boys had been a talking point between parents and after Olly had his hair pulled during a match, it led to a conversation where it was suggested it’d be worth seeing if his hair was long enough to donate.
“He fell a little bit short of donating so we toyed with the idea of giving some money to charity which I mentioned to another mum who encouraged me to take it further, that there would be other mum’s that want their boys’ hair cut, there’s something in this,” Oldfield said.
“It started with a couple of social media posts saying I think our boys can raise some money and we can end the mullet and it blew up from there.
“Now here we are, a ten-thousand-dollar target later, 7 thousand dollars in and I think twelve boys have either cut or shaved their hair so we’re pretty pumped.”
Originally, they were hoping to raise up to $1,000 dollars but that was quickly passed within just four hours of being up on social media.
From there, many others got involved including Rosie’s husband who offered to shave his beard for $2000 dollars.
“With Olly cutting his hair, lots of the boys jumped on board, the beard with Shane, the network of people that were contributing with their hair grew and so did the exposure across their families and friends.
“We went from one thousand to five thousand, constantly changing our target, wanting to deliver more to this amazing cause.”
This Sunday on Mother’s Day, the team will continue to show their support for the foundation and raise awareness of the cause, with all boys wearing pink.
Along with those on the team who have shaved their hair, the boys will also be dying their hair pink.
“Along with colouring their hair, the boys will also be wearing pink armbands and those who know survivors or who have suffered loss, the boys will be writing the names of people they love in their armbands.”
Breast Cancer has continued to be the most diagnosed types of cancer in Australian women, with one in seven women diagnosed in their lifetime.
The young men of the Lysterfield Wolves side have started a fantastic initiative to create further awareness to the cause, whilst also raising funds for those who have been affected by breast cancer.
Rosie Oldfield is extremely proud of the way the team, parents and club have supported the cause this year.
“As a parent, a member of the club, I’m really proud to be a part of this community,” Oldfield said.
“These boys are incredible young men, they come from beautiful families that got completely on board and this Mother’s day, what better time to be grateful.”
If you would like to contribute , head to the link below to help the Lysterfield Wolves reach their new goal of 10,000 dollars.