More than 2.5 million people worldwide live with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). This disease affects people in the prime of their lives, between the ages of 20 and 50. Every hour a new person is diagnosed with MS. Currently there is no cure.

A few years back, my mother was diagnosed with MS as well as my cousin who was diagnosed this year. As a daughter of a mother with MS, it has become my mission to spread awareness and support for this unpredictable disease. As a senior captain of the Oswego State field hockey team, I have asked my team to join me in that mission and they have all committed to helping spread the awareness.

My mother, Anne Collins, is an Oswego State alumna. She is a member of the class of 1980 after playing four years of field hockey and women's ice hockey for the Lakers. From 1979-1980, she set records that would later lead her to the induction into the Oswego State Athletics Hall of Fame (at the time of her induction she was the women's ice hockey all-time scoring leader as a defenseman and scoring leader for field hockey). In 2006, she was officially inducted into the Hall of Fame and her plaque now hangs among all the other Oswego State greats outside of Max Ziel Gymnasium on the first floor of Laker Hall.

Along with my mom, my sister also played sports at Oswego. She played field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse for all four years. I was lucky enough to have played with her for one year as a freshman, leaving me with memories I will never forget. Those memories include us connecting on two goals, my goal assisted by her and her goal aided by me.

For the seven years of games that my sister and I have played here at Oswego, my mother has not missed a single one. With all the support that she has shown the Lakers over the years, we thought it was time to show some support for her. We are doing so by holding an MS awareness game when we face Wells College at 1 p.m. this Saturday. Fans are asked to wear orange as it is the awareness color attributed to the fight against MS.

Currently we have a website dedicated to Oswego State's field hockey game for the fight against MS. Please visit this LINK for more information.