During the weekend, the Wells and Traip Academy girls’ basketball teams played in a regular season basketball game. It was on the schedule as just another contest being played in the mid-season, but there was nothing ho-hum about the game.

As the teams battled on the court, they were playing to help fight breast cancer as they took part in Wells’ third annual Shootin’ For a Cure ”“ a worthwhile cause.

Breast cancer in 2007 killed 40,598 women after nearly 203,000 women were diagnosed with the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC reports that aside from non-melanoma skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States.

Wells’ and Traip’s game on Saturday showed how sports games and teams can bring awareness to such causes.

We must give these athletes and schools credit for playing for more than a win or a loss. They were playing to win the fight against a deadly disease that is unfortunately a harsh reality for many people.

More than 80 girls participated in events prior to the varsity game on Saturday that involved free-throw shooting contests and raffling off prizes throughout the day.

Players from both schools helped raise money, and area merchants donated food and other items to the cause.

At half time of the varsity game, the teams presented York Hospital with a $26,660 check for its breast care centers. The amount represented what the teams raised Saturday and the $7,500 Wells raised during the summer when Shootin’ for a Cure partnered with Wells Rotary Club for their annual golf tournament.

Saturday marked the third year that Wells has participated in the event, bringing their total amount raised to $56,000 for York Hospital’s breast cancer centers.

Those are incredible amounts raised to fight a disease that is rampant.

Sports can be truly influential and transcend the athletic fields and courts, as Wells and Traip demonstrated during the weekend, but these two teams are not the only groups involved with the fight.

In the fall, the Massabesic and Sanford field hockey teams competed in a Playin’ for a Cure event during their regular season game. The teams used fund drives prior to the game and fans of each teams competed against each other as they placed donations into their respective teams’ jars and tried to out-fundraise each other. They eventually raised more than $6,000.

Individual athletes are also getting involved with fighting breast cancer. Each summer, women from across Maine compete in the Tri for a Cure near Willard Beach in South Portland. It is a grueling triathlon of a three quarter-mile swim, 15-mile bike ride and a 3.2 mile run. Nearly 2,000 women compete, with ages varying from teens to 80s ”“ many of them cancer survivors.

These events are truly amazing and demonstrate the beauty of awareness through competition. It’s about people coming together for a common goal to try and fight a brutal disease.

During the basketball games, the teams wear pink uniforms, and in the field hockey game, the teams play with pink balls, representing the breast cancer awareness color. Athletes in the triathlon usually wear at least one pink piece of clothing.

It’s fun for the spectators to watch, and it’s fun for the players, but most importantly the events are for a noble cause.

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Today’s editorial was written by Sports Editor Al Edwards on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.