By Vanessa Broadbent (The Cascade) – Email
For most students, November means only one month left until Christmas break, but for student athletes at UFV, it’s all about growing moustaches and fundraising. Movember is back, and this year UFV Cascades athletes are working to raise more funds than ever.
“It’s for prostate cancer,” Dayton Pagliericci, middle on the men’s volleyball team, explained. “What guy who can grow a moustache doesn’t want to grow a moustache, and have the excuse to grow that moustache? So if you’re going to do that, you might as well do it for a good cause.”
Pagliericci, along with the rest of the men’s volleyball team, are working hard to raise funds for the Movember Foundation, a global charity benefitting prostate cancer.
“As a team, we’re all growing the mustaches,” he said. “Last year we set up a team account and we raised around $300. We didn’t do that this year. We decided to go for our single selves. Right now, I’m at $150 just by myself and the other guys are working their way up there.”
Some athletes, like men’s basketball guard Manny Dulay, are stepping up their game this year. Dulay gave donors the opportunity to vote with their dollars for which style of moustache he would wear, as of the teams’ November 14 home game.
“I asked everyone to donate, and then everyone that donated got to pick between four ‘staches that I chose. Whichever ‘stache raises the most money, I’m going to pick that ‘stache and I’ll do that ‘stache from that last home game to the end of November,” he said in a Q&A interview with The Cascade (page 23).
The four moustaches included sideburns, a handlebar moustache, a curled moustache, and a beard with a goatee.
“The one that’s winning is the one with the sideburns and the ‘stache so I’ll be looking pretty ugly for the next couple weeks,” Dulay said.
Although the voting was only open until November 14, Dulay noted that he is still fundraising until the end of the month.
“People can still donate,” he said. “I’m hoping to raise around $500 again. Right now I’m about half way there.”
Both Pagliericci and Dulay have participated in Movember for the past few years, and have had their fair share of moustache varieties.
“I’ve done the handlebar, I’ve done the greasy pencil-thin moustache,” Pagliericci explained. “This year I thought maybe I would try to be presentable looking, so I have more scruff going on. It’s my best year.”
But Pagliericci also explained that looking presentable isn’t always the goal.
“It’s pretty much the guy that can be the most pervy-looking or ugly-looking wins, but obviously in the end the cancer foundation wins,” he said.
For Dulay, growing a moustache has a more personal connection.
“The ‘stache to me is important because in my culture, the Sikh culture, if you have a nice ‘stache you get some props,” he said. “It’s kind of cool doing that, but at the same time, it’s kind of cool trying to help.”
Although growing a moustache is fun, it’s the fundraising that really matters to Dulay.
“Obviously, I don’t want to have this cancer in my future, I don’t want my dad to have it, I don’t want my grandpa to have it,” he explained. “I want to prevent this from happening so I’m going to do whatever I can.”
While the athletes are working together to raise funds, anyone can participate.
“You can make an account at movember.com,” Pagliericci explained. “You throw a picture up of yourself with your glorious moustache.”
Pagliericci and Dulay, along with many of their teammates and fellow Cascades athletes, will be accepting donations until the end of the month. Donations can be made at the athletics department, as well as online at movember.com.
