How do you make a difference? For Kay Yow, it meant a 34-year coaching career, over 500 successes and inspiring a non-profit organization that continues to serve communities today.
On Jan. 5, Green Hope held Play4Kay in memory of Kay Yow. The event was on behalf of the Kay Yow Foundation to support any women fighting cancer. The school donated to the foundation by using the funds from tickets and sales from concessions to raise money for cancer research.
However, the legacy that Yow left behind started decades earlier.
Yow had a successful career coaching for the women’s basketball team at North Carolina State University (NCSU). She was known to coach with intensity, leading her teams to gain widespread recognition within the ACC and across the nation. She is also the only coach to win gold medals in the World Championships and the Olympics. Yow is one of only three women to win over 500 games during her tenure as a coach. She coached from 1975 to 2009 and passed away in 2009 due to stage four breast cancer. Yow fought cancer for 22 years.
Today, the Kay Yow Foundation continues its mission. It hosts Play4Kay events across high schools and universities in all 50 states. The foundation is also expanding its reach internationally – namely, in Italy. However, the organization is guided by three primary goals: raising funds for cancer research, supporting programs that serve under-resourced communities and bringing communities together. Even though Kay Yow Foundation’s main program is Play4Kay, it consists of many other programs including the Empowerment Program, which goes to different institutions to make spaces in which individuals are comfortable to speak out about cancer.
Green Hope’s collaboration with the Kay Yow Foundation started with a personal connection. Women’s Basketball Coach Chasity Melvin was coached by Yow at NCSU from 1994 to 1998. Yow’s influence led Coach Melvin to propose working with Play4Kay. Coach Melvin uses Yow’s coaching to inspire the women’s basketball team with her favorite quote from Yow: “When life kicks you, you got to let it kick you forward.” “When life kicks you, you got to let it kick you forward.” — Kay Yow
The Play4Kay charity night consisted of a quad meet against Apex Friendship High School. The night ended with the women’s varsity basketball team winning a victory.
Although Yow’s influence impacted Coach Melvin, she wasn’t the only one present at the game who felt so. Inspired by the Kay Yow Foundation’s mission, Mrs. Kelsey Harris became a representative in March 2023, playing an active role in organizing Play4Kay events. Harris played basketball for Elon University and heard of Yow’s influence from her coaches, who worked alongside Yow before she started her position at NCSU.
After Mrs. Harris lost family members and one of her mentors to cancer, she felt compelled to start working with cancer foundations. “It’s been amazing to be a part of the staff and being a representative, knowing that we have a unique position in the sports space and being able to talk to younger generations and yourself and empower others through sport but also tying it into cancer awareness, fundraising and making a difference,” she said. “Sometimes it’s hard to talk about, you know a hard topic like cancer, and it’s important to know if you’ve had any family members diagnosed with cancer in the past because that can lead to preventative tests to catch it early.”
Free Play4Kay t-shirts and a warm welcome from Phoebe the Falcon in a matching tee were gifted to the first 100 students in attendance. Students matched with the players wearing their pink warm-ups and pink ribbons. There was a section for students to purchase Play4Kay Green Hope merchandise which was shown throughout the crowd.
Green Hope Principal Alison Cleveland, a breast cancer survivor, supported the players with matching pink in the student section.
“Any type of female in a leadership role, in general, is inspiring to me, but someone who has done life work and inspired other women to have a foundation about her work, journey, and battle- she is going to be inspiring for generations,” Mrs. Cleveland said. Even though she never met Yow, she is close to people who were inspired by her.
One in three women get diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Foundations like Play4Kay make it possible to educate the community on cancer and make a profound impact.
“It’s a privilege to play and there are a lot of women, men, everyone […] people who fight this disease, fight cancer, they have such a hard tough time. It’s hard for the kids to get outside the box and themselves […] I hope they’ll treat each day like a new opportunity,” Coach Melvin said.
Cancer survivors from the Green Hope community were recognized at mid-court with applause during half-time. The recognition of the survivors ended with a presentation of a check for $2,000. Given to a representative from the Kay Yow Foundation, the check was generously donated by the Green Hope Booster Club sponsors.
The event was enjoyed by many of the participants who came on Friday night and wanted to continue at Green Hope next season.
Matt Monge • Jan 13, 2024 at 12:25 pm
Great article AB!!
Daniel McClernon • Jan 10, 2024 at 9:14 pm
Nice article, good job! And let’s give a big applause to Katie Dean and Anita McClernon for bringing this event to a successful conclusion! Without them, there would have been no Kay Yow event at GHHS!