A football match and a close shave raise $5000 in less than one week.
When High School Old Boys Football co-coach Matthew McFatter said he would shave his head for charity, the Gisborne community were keen to help. So McFatter put his hair on the line in a bid to raise $5000.
It all started when HSOB organised a top-of-the-table charity football match against Smash Palace Shockers on the weekend to boost awareness around breast cancer.
Originally the plan was for people to donate a gold coin at the game, but McFatter was blown away by donations in the lead-up to the match.
“We were expecting to have a couple of hundred but it got bigger and bigger,” he said. “The community and all the businesses around town wanted to get involved.”
In the HSOB Facebook chat during the week, teammate Kelly Humphries suggested that McFatter offer to shave his head.
“I wanted it to be something that meant something to everybody, a target - $5000 was,” McFatter said.
In less than a week the team reached their goal with the help of raffles and donations.
HSOB captain Aubey Yates shaves his co-coach Matthew McFatter's hair for the Breast Cancer Foundation.
Gisborne Thistle Jags central forward Campbell Hall got his team to dress in pink and donate to the cause at training. The Thistle club also donated their Saturday game’s gate takings.
And on the day, over 100 people turned out to Harry Barker Reserve wearing pink for the charity match. Both teams sported pink socks and matching pink headbands and in addition, match official Eru Rawiri wore a pink referee shirt.
Breast cancer awareness also applies to men. According to Gisborne nurse and cancer educator Sue Ball, 25 Kiwi men get breast cancer each year. She was pleased to see so many men at the game.
“It’s great to see all these guys out here supporting the kaupapa and it’s a good chance to remind them to check themselves as well,” she said.
HSOB started the day with a jersey presentation and speeches from whānau affected by cancer. Among them was Wainui Riverina coach Lizzie Hall, who shared her experience of losing her sister Susan to breast cancer, and her mother Patricia’s survival at the cost of losing a breast.
The teams “circled up” in the middle of the pitch for a minute’s silence to remember loved ones affected by cancer and then Rawiri blew the whistle to begin the game.
Sizzling start
The Shockers came out firing, scoring two goals in quick succession. Mathias Bast slotted the first goal three minutes into the match.
Two minutes later, teammate Oscar Daube followed it up with another from a cross off Bast after the HSOB goalkeeper collided with a Shockers striker clearing the box for Daube to score.
After a further 10 minutes, Daube scored again after Old Boys clearances were deflected twice, Daube making no mistake the second time.
HSOB pulled one back in the 15th minute to make it 3-1, Steve White putting a ball over the Shockers’ defence to find Robert Fitzpatrick, who stuck it first time over the keeper.
The tension ramped up, with the Shockers’ Matthew Low and Martin Hemmington given yellow cards in the last few minutes before halftime.
Old Boys must have got a rev-up in the break, because the second half began very differently, with HSOB piling on the pressure. After 10 minutes, Hemmington received a second yellow card for a nasty foul and was sent off.
With the Shockers down to 10 players, a change of scoreline was inevitable. A well-struck free kick from McFatter saw the ball fly over the keeper’s head, bouncing in and then out. Without the aid of VAR, Rawiri confirmed the goal.
There was more drama, with HSOB Matthew Miller given a yellow card in the 58th minute for kicking the ball after the Shockers were awarded a free kick. HSOB striker Humphries also received a yellow card in the 74th minute for persistently infringing the laws of the game.
The high intensity continued, with both teams having opportunities, but the whistle blew to conclude the game with Shockers winning 3-2.
Shockers now sit at the top of the Eastern League 2 table, two points ahead of HSOB.
The fundraising continued at the prizegiving later that night, where HSOB Captain Aubrey Yates was delighted to assist capitalise on the $5000 pledged for the shaving of McFatter’s head.
Matthew McFatter said he would shave his head if the charity football match he was involved in netted $5000. The money was raised in less than a week.
All the funds raised went to the Breast Cancer Foundation, but Ball also appreciated the increased awareness of breast cancer.
“All of the work we do is funded by charity. So we are really grateful when groups like this come out and fundraise for us because it means we can do those extra things that the public health system can’t do,” she said.
