As the season drew to a close, Leesville’s women’s lacrosse team sported bright orange hair ribbons and socks in honor of Coach Eugene McLemore for Multiple Sclerosis awareness month.
The 2021 school year was McLemore’s third coaching season for Leesville Lax. He battles Multiple Sclerosis, a disease in which the immune system causes nerve damage, disrupting communication between brain and body. MS can have a number of effects, such as pain, fatigue, vision loss, and impaired coordination, and may be chronic in some cases.
March is MS awareness month, and with COVID-19 preventing the annual MS walk, the women’s lax team took supporting McLemore into their own hands.
“In previous years there is an in person walk for MS, so we would participate that way, but this year we got orange hair bows and socks to show support for him and Ed Hughes announced facts about MS at our games,” said Lillian Avent, a senior and member of Leesville’s varsity women’s lacrosse team, in an interview via text.
She hopes that their efforts were able to raise awareness to their competitors about MS and effectively honor their coach. “Overall we wanted to spread the word to other teams and make people aware of MS and give Coach Mac some recognition for his strength.”
Despite battling MS, McLemore’s infectious enthusiasm and spirit has made him a beloved coach. The team wanted to support their coach and reciprocate the support he provides them on a daily basis. “He is very passionate and driven about coaching and being a family team,” said Avent. “I think as a team we have a lot of fun because of him and we work really hard.”
You can support Coach McLemore and other strong people battling MS by donating money to his team for the annual walk, which raises money for researching and fighting MS.
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