The Royals Under 11s rugby union team plays Gungahlin in the grand final at Viking Park on Sunday – and then they'll back that up by shaving their heads in support of Brumbies player Christian Lealiifano, who has been diagnosed with leukaemia.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The team's coach, Trevor Hancock, aka Brumbies Man, and his son, Josh aka Brumbies Boy, are already walking in Light the Night, a twilight walk in Canberra on Friday, October 14, in support of anyone affected by a blood cancer.
Josh thought it would be a good idea for his U11s team to shave their head to raise money for the event. So the #Shave4Christian campaign was born.
The team includes two girls – Dusty-Rose Bates and Liz Marshall – who have lovely long hair and were given the option to dye rather than shave their hair. They said "pffft!" to that.
So the girls will join the boys in shaving their hair on Saturday, September 10, in Holder at 11am.
Dusty-Rose, a student at Duffy Primary, and Liz, of Canberra Girls' Grammar, have been playing rugby for a couple of seasons.
Dusty-Rose's mum, Kristy Watt, said her daughter was a big fan of Lealiifano.
"She said, 'Everyone's been supportive of me playing rugby, now it's my turn to help someone', which I thought was so mature," Kristy said.
The year 5 student had no qualms about losing her hair.
"Her motto is, 'It's only hair, it'll grow back'," Kristy said.
And Dusty-Rose has raised $1500, including by doorknocking pretty much every door in Uriarra.
Liz, also in year 5, is similarly non-plussed about losing her hair, even though it may take years to grow back.
"We were a bit surprised by that but we support her," dad David said.
Liz has raised more than $1000, happy to contribute to a player who is a star in a game she loves.
"She told me something the other day which I didn't know, she said, 'Sometimes the boys take it a bit easier with us because we're girls but one team didn't take it easy on me at all and I really loved that'," David said.
These girls are made of the right stuff. If you'd like to sponsor the girls or any members of the team, give coach Trev a ring on 0438774560.
