October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and if you're a member of a high school or college volleyball team, there's a good chance you'll be hosting or attending at least one Dig Pink Match.

The Side-Out Foundation created the Dig Pink match concept as a way to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research during October.

Want to host the best Dig Pink match ever? Here are our tips:

1. Make tie-dye T-shirts.

You can go the traditional route and purchase a tie-dye kit from any craft store, or try starting with a pink shirt and following the steps in this video to use bleach to create a similar effect.

2. Encourage fans to wear pink.

This is a given for hosting the best Dig Pink night ever, and it will involve some pre-planning on the part of your team. Make posters and put them up around school or campus the week before the event, promoting the match and making it very clear that wearing pink it highly encouraged. Maybe even create a raffle and automatically enter each fan who wears pink.

Here's a great example of a poster from the Drake University Dig Pink night:



Selling pink T-shirts at the door can help you raise money for the Side-Out Foundation and will increase the number of attendees rocking pink in the stands.

3. Decorations are key.

Start with posters. Some good taglines are "Volley for the Cure," "Block Out Cancer," "Dig Deep, Dig Pink, Beat Cancer," and "Spike Cancer."

Pink streamers and balloons can have a big impact on the overall feel of the gym during your Dig Pink event. That said, a poorly hung streamer can do more harm than good, so check out some of these how-to articles.







You could also buy a few pumpkins and paint them pink and/or embellished with the breast cancer awareness ribbon. A great way to celebrate fall and breast cancer awareness at the same time.

4. Host a bake sale.

Make sure to have a place for fans and parents to donate cash (a decorated old volleyball with a hole cut out of the top is a great way to go here), but you might also want to have a bake sale in order to raise additional money. The number of pink baked items you can make are endless, but here are a few of our favorites:



From left to right: white chocolate popcorn, pink ribbon homemade Oreos, pink yogurt-covered pretzels, strawberry truffle Kiss cookies

Get even more out of your bake sale by seeing if school administrators will allow your team to set up a table in the cafeteria to sell items throughout the week leading up the match. That will give you an opportunity to raise more funds and also create more buzz around the upcoming Dig Pink match.

5. Get decked out.

As a team, you need to lead the pink charge. That means hair extensions/dye, nails, headbands, and socks, at a minimum. You can even get breast cancer awareness eye black. Just make sure you comply with your school and league's regulations on face paint/hair color/etc.




A great idea is to host a team dinner the night before where you do each other's nails and hair. You can also use this time to finish making posters and baking for the bake sale.

What has worked for your team when you've hosted Dig Pink matches in the past? We'd love to hear from you in the comments below.