There are a number of pink shirts in Cathedral High School football coach Rick Streiff’s closet but they all belonged to his wife ….. until this week. Friday night, Streiff will be wearing a pink T-shirt (weather permitting) as part of a Pink Out the school is holding in honor of Debra O’Malia, the mother of student trainer Alyssa O’Malia, who is undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. The coaching staff will be wearing pink shirts, the players pink shoelaces and fans are encouraged to wear pink and fill the home stands in monochromatic support.

“Alyssa wanted to do something in support of her mom and we talked about taking a home game and doing a Pink Out,” Streiff said. “We can’t do pink jerseys so Alyssa said, ‘What about shoelaces?’ I thought it was a great idea.”

Cathedral’s next home game was against Tech on Oct. 9 but it was the team’s Senior Night. When the postseason draw brought Lebanon to Arlington on Friday for the first round of sectionals, Streiff checked with the Indiana High School Athletic Association to make sure a Pink Out didn’t violate any rules and scheduled the event.

Pink T-shirts have been available at the school this week and $2,500 has already been raised to donate to the battle against breast cancer. Anyone interested in a T-shirt, making a donation or additional information can contact Lisa Renze-Rhodes at the school at (317) 968-7352.

Streiff said several players showed up in pink shoelaces at practice last week after he first mentioned the event to them and he had to tell them to wait until the following week and not wear them in the team’s game at Birmingham (Mich.) Rice on Saturday.

“Some wanted to get pink socks and pink gloves and I had to tell them, ‘Let’s just do the shoelaces,’ ” Streiff said. “Some of them I’ll have to push to change their shoelaces but some I’ll have to reel back in. Baring terrible weather, I’ll wear a long-sleeve shirt that’s warm enough with the pink T-shirt over the top.
“We had no idea the NFL was planning something similar (for October) and we’re not trying to match that. But Alyssa’s been a real positive member of the team and the training job is one of those thankless positions on a football team. No one sees all the little stuff they do. It’s our way to help support her.”