Eastern Michigan Athletics
Green Goes Red for Saturday's Basketball Doubleheader
2/1/2010 4:01:16 PM | Women's Basketball
EMU teams with the American Heart Association for the Saturday, Feb. 6, doubleheader
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Do not be alarmed Saturday if you see Eastern Michigan University student-athletes and staff departing from their green and white colors, in favor of red. It is the University's way of supporting heart disease prevention for women as part of the American Heart Association's national Go Red for Women Day on Friday, Feb. 5.
To help with the cause the EMU Department of Athletics will be holding a "Green Goes Red" basketball doubleheader Saturday, Feb. 6, at the Convocation Center. The women's basketball team hosts Mid-American Conference foe Kent State University at 2 p.m., followed by the men's game against Ohio University.
All fans wearing a red shirt will be admitted free to the game to help cheer on the Eagles. Additionally, the American Heart Association will be providing heart-healthy information, as well as distributing 100 get healthy kids cookbooks and 100 EagleNation aprons prior to the women's game.
"I am so honored to be a part of the Go Red cause," mentioned head women's basketball coach AnnMarie Gilbert. "Women and heart disease matter to me because I nearly lost my mother to a severe heart attack in August of 2008. I lost my grandfather to heart failure in 1991. My mom's near fatal experience prompted me to research women and cardiovascular diseases. When I learned that millions of American women are currently living with heart disease and that women of color tend to be affected at a higher rate, I committed myself to encouraging women within my family and community to get proper screenings and to take care of their hearts."
The Go Red cause is to raise awareness about cardiovascular disease, which has historically been characterized as a "man's disease," but the statistics bear out that it is an equal-opportunity killer. More women die from cardiovascular disease than the next five causes of death combined, with the disease claiming more than 505,000 women each year.
This is the second consecutive year the Eagles have teamed up with the American Heart Association's Go Red effort. Last season, Gilbert, EMU Associate Athletic Director/Senior Women's Administrator Stephannnie Vandenberg and guard Cassie Schrock (Wadsworth, Ohio-Wadsworth) served as models in the Go Red for Women luncheon and fashion show, Feb. 13, 2009, at Washtenaw Community College.
