Toledo Reign in Your Community

Thee Toledo Reign are very active in the community.

Teaming up to Tackle Breast Cancer with Thee Toledo Reign

Rich Fowler, Editor
Transition Times Triathlon Magazine, Ohio Edition

If you’re a fan of Thee Toledo Reign women’s professional football club, then you’re already familiar with the talent and teamwork of the ladies on the squad.  Several of us weren’t familiar with them until last weekend at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, but now we’re all big fans of both the ladies and the team.  As a longtime supporter and volunteer at Komen “Race for the Cure’s” I am always surprised that one thing stands out at every race as “the” catalyst to make a race great – and this year at the 2005 Northwest Ohio Race for the Cure, it was Thee Toledo Reign and their efforts in “Teaming up to Tackle Breast Cancer”.

For the umpteenth year in a row, Thee Toledo Reign served as the officials at the starting line for the Northwest Ohio Susan G. Komen “Race for the Cure” in support of finding a cure for breast cancer.  Part of their “Teaming up to Tackle Breast Cancer” campaign, the ladies from the Reign formed a continuous and formidable human wall in front of 15,000 runners and walkers Sunday morning, after playing a road game Saturday night that didn’t get them home to Toledo until nearly 7am Sunday. Rather than going home, they donned their jerseys and headed to the start line directly from the Indianapolis game.  Then, as soon as they started the race (and made a nice appearance on Channel 11 WTOL TV) the ladies in purple dashed through the streets of downtown Toledo to serve at the finish line too.

Officially the job of the Reign was to direct finishers through the finish chute and maintain crowd control (which they did flawlessly), but their real value was the way they treated the Survivors in their pink shirts as they came across the finish line.  For anyone who has ever been to a Race for the Cure, you realize quickly that it’s so much less about the race, and so much more about the tens of thousands of people around you cheering and supporting and loving the finishers in the pink t-shirts, special because they are the ones in the battle with breast cancer. Thee Toledo Reign players and coaches treated every Survivor as if they’d just WON the race, with hugs and words of encouragement and support for all.  They talked to nearly 600 Survivors in pink, gave out twice as many hugs, and were absolute “Rock Stars” at the finish line.  They directed local TV and media people to the Survivors crossing the line, catching finishers who pushed too hard, and pushing a few ladies in pink t-shirts and wheelchairs across the line so they could get into the excitement as well.  It wasn’t just one or two either – it was the entire group: linemen, stars, coaches; from grad students to grandmothers they were all out there giving their time, energy, and support for the effort, the racers, and the Race for the Cure. 

Thank you, ladies of Thee Toledo Reign, for being such a shining example of positive role models for girls in Toledo.  Tough, fast, and strong on the field; generous, caring, and compassionate off the field – you show them that it is possible to be “all that” because that’s who you are.  We notice it, and we appreciate it. 

For more information on the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure visit www.nwohkomen.org

For information of the 2005 NW Ohio Race for the Cure, and for video from the race, visit www.wtol.com and click on the Race for the Cure logo.

For more information on Thee Toledo Reign or the Women’s Professional Football League, visit www.womensprofootball.com and click on Thee Toledo Reign.

Toledo Reign To Hold First Annual Dodgeball Tournament

Toledo, Ohio: July 18, 2005 – Thee Toledo Reign Women’s Professional Football team will be holding their first annual Dodgeball Tournament on Sunday, August 7 th at "The Beach" sand volleyball courts at International Park in downtown Toledo. Check in will start at 11 am with the double elimination tournament starting at noon. The entry fee is $70 per team, with each team having between 6-10 players. All participants will receive at least two games, t-shirt, and a ticket to a Toledo Reign football game.

For more information on how to get the Reign involved in your community or event, please contact Thee Toledo Reign at 419-654-5799 or email: TheeToledoReign@aol.com.