Feature Friday: Digging for a Cure

Feature Friday highlights the tremendous personal stories our coaches and cadet-athletes have to share on a weekly basis. Each Friday, a new feature story will be prominently highlighted on GoArmyWestPoint.com. The features will include multi-media pieces, as well as written stories by media outlets and the Army West Point athletic communications staff.

One in eight. One in every eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Every two minutes. That is how often a woman is diagnosed with the life altering disease every day.

There are many organizations and events that raise money to research the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women, but it is projected that over 246,660 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer and that 40,000 of those will die. Athletics has played a particular part in breast cancer research.

The Army West Point volleyball program is one of 6,425 participating programs that help raise awareness for the cause along with the Side-Out Foundation each year.

Some Americans are lucky enough to never see its affects, but others know the full hindrance that breast cancer can be to not only an individual, but to those surrounding the diagnosed as well.

Amber Clay, a junior on the Army volleyball team knows firsthand the impact that breast cancer in particular can have on one's life, and how a support system can be a true game changer even long after the first diagnosis.

"The end of my junior year of high school was when I found out my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer," said Clay. "It didn't seem as serious as I thought it was. She fought it off heading into my last year of high school so the end of my senior year she was cancer free and she was fine. Life went back to normal. It was during my freshman season at West Point when it came back. When we played American my plebe year was when I found out."

Clay always had a bizarre connection to the Dig Pink game at Army. It always had a special meaning for her, even before she put on the Black and Gold uniform.

"When I came on my official visit, it was for a Dig Pink game," Clay said. "It was right around the time I found out about my mom so I kept thinking that this was so awesome. For the rest of my high school career, I wore a Dig Pink bracelet on my shoes."

After visiting West Point Clay knew that it was the place for her. So she began the application process that would spark her 41-month journey on the banks of the Hudson.

"My parents were so excited," Clay reflected. "My mom was a little nervous, but it is such a good school and that was our main focus. They were really proud that I got in and volleyball was a blessing on top of everything. We all knew that I made the right decision. The hardest part was R-Day. As soon as they said you have 60 seconds to say goodbye, I turned and my entire family just broke down and lost it. That was probably the most emotional I have ever seen them as a whole."

Clay persevered and saw success throughout her rookie season as she followed her family motto to, "never give up." Her parents were able to make it to campus for that year's Dig Pink game where the team donned the tinted jerseys. They returned for Plebe Parent Weekend that March and little did they know that it would be their last trip to West Point as a family.

Head coach Alma Kovaci was the one to relay the news to Clay. "She tried to make it seem volleyball related with individual meetings," said Clay. "We went upstairs and she told me that she got a call from my dad and that I needed to go home. I went home literally the next day. Everyone took care of me. Everything just flowed, I got to go home to see her and then three days later she passed away. I was able to see her through that, but I had no idea that it was as bad as it was. She wanted to keep it from me so I would stay focused on school."

It was now a pivotal moment for Clay who contemplated removing herself from enrollment at West Point to stay home with her family after her mother passed away, but it was the unconditional love and support from her teammates and coaches that pulled her back.

"When I came back, I had 19 sisters that were there with open arms," Clay remembered smiling. "Last season, we wore pink shoelaces for my mom that said "never give up" and then the date that she passed. Having my whole team on my side and everyone giving the cause purpose was awesome. They were there for me when I needed someone to lean on. I don't know if I could ever give back what they gave me. I get really emotional when I think about that because they are just so awesome. They are so awesome."

Saturday, Sept. 24, Clay will be at Gillis Field House for her fourth Dig Pink match at Army. Last year's match was an emotional one and she expects this year will be much of the same, but in a good way.

"Last year's game was very emotional for me," Clay said. "We played Colgate and won and I remember after the game just crying thinking my mom was here, she did that for us. So it means a lot to me. It is just amazing to see how much the team cared and how much they continue to care and how much they are there for me. That game in particular, season after season, is a culmination of what she went through and what so many people are going through so that game has a lot of purpose.

Clay has now amassed 503 digs in her career. Those along with the research funded by the Side-Out Foundation, Dig Pink matches and countless other efforts, may just indeed help find a cure.

*Statistics were found at NationalBreastCancer.org and Side-Out.org.

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Army West Point Athletics

Feature Friday: Digging for a Cure

Players Mentioned

Amber Clay

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