Softball Victoria will be turning the Peta Edebone Cup and Men’s State League purple on Sunday 28^th February as it continues its proud partnership with the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation.

The day will see SV host the PEC and MSL Skins Grand Final day at Waverley Softball Association.

All players, coaches and spectators are encouraged to wear something purple, and will be able to show their support by purchasing merchandise that will be available on the day.

SV are supporting CBCF to raise awareness for the many families that have and will be touched by Brain Cancer.

Brain Cancer is one of the biggest killers of children and young adults. The SV community has been touched by these tragic statistics when we lost Waverley Softball Association player and volunteer Alysha Waye in February 2019.

CBCF Head of Advocacy, Annabelle Wilson, lost her husband Josh to Brain Cancer, and will be present on the day to continue to raise awareness and funds to help combat this disease.

Alysha and Josh’s legacy:

Words by CBCF Head of Advocacy, Annabelle Wilson:

My friend Alysha was fiery, fierce and fun, and I miss her every day.

When I first began to advocate for brain cancer research and awareness, it was deeply personal. Josh, who was 22 at the time, had been diagnosed with a Grade 3 Astrocytoma brain tumour, and been given 18 months to live “if he was lucky”. He had just returned from a deployment to Afghanistan with the RAAF, and been accepted into the Top Gun program, reserved for the 1% of Airforce elite. I couldn’t believe that someone who was so young and had so much potential could get terminal cancer.

Brain cancer kills more children than any other disease in Australia. It also kills more people under 40 in Australia than any other cancer. Yet very little is known about brain cancer, its causes, or how to treat it. I started working for Cure Brain Cancer Foundation in 2014 and I’m still here advocating today.

Josh was (and is) the love of my life, and our story was enough to motivate me to make change, but what I didn’t anticipate was how many other exceptional young people we would meet along the way; Our dear friend Ben who was completing a PhD, Badass single-mum Michelle… and incredible Alysha.

Alysha was one of those people who sparkled. She inspired everyone she knew and lifted the energy of any room she was in. I remember feeling instantly connected to her, and we all felt our way through the advocacy journey together – be it taking each other to support groups, promoting fundraising opportunities together or being cheer squad for each other’s speeches. For Alysha it was more than just brain cancer, her passion for disability issues and improving accessibility was phenomenal and what she achieved was remarkable.

Of course, nothing I had was stronger than the bond between Alysha and Josh – two high flyers who were out to change the world, despite (or maybe in spite of) their diagnoses. Although I now advocate in remembrance of both of these incredible individuals, I still try and infuse their passion in everything that I do.

So it’s with huge appreciation that I thank Softball Victoria for joining us on this advocacy journey. Alysha spent every minute working hard to make the world a better place for others in a similar situation as her, and the world is a better place because of her.

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