Lady Eagles Honor ‘Team Mom’ Doreen Walls
The team planned a ceremony on Senior Night to honor Walls, who is battling breast cancer
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the Lady Eagles soccer team honored someone very close to them who is bravely fighting this disease.
Doreen Walls, the mother of goalkeeper Rayann Walls and wife of volunteer assistant coach Alan Walls, was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Breast Cancer this summer.
My mom goes above and beyond to make sure my brother [Wyatt] and I have everything we need and makes time for us and all our extracurricular activities
— Rayann Walls
“We wanted to honor Doreen during our Senior Day because she and her husband Alan are very special and important to our girls soccer program,” said soccer parent and event planner Jennifer Vance.
“[Doreen and Alan have] volunteered countless hours, not only to soccer, but to several programs throughout our community and school district. As a team and as a program, we wanted to show them that they are not alone as Doreen begins her journey in fighting breast cancer,” said Vance.
During the last home game of the season, Vance and the members of the booster club planned an emotional celebration to honor Doreen.
All of the players lined up on the sideline and put Rayann in the center, holding flowers.
The players all walked across the field towards Doreen as the announcer spoke about her fight against breast cancer. Rayann handed the flowers to Doreen and there was not a dry eye in the stands. The rest of the team continued to shower her in hugs and spoke encouraging words to share their love and support.
According to Doreen she was “very surprised and emotional” and “extremely blessed to be a part of this program.”
Doreen and her husband Alan began coaching 10 years ago when Rayann was in the U6 division. Doreen has been a volunteer ever since as a coach, board member, and team manager.
“My mom goes above and beyond to make sure my brother [Wyatt] and I have everything we need and makes time for us and all our extracurricular activities,” said Rayann.
Doreen is very special to the Lady Eagles soccer team due to her involvement and contribution.
There isn’t a game where the players can’t hear Doreen screaming from the sidelines. She always helps with fundraising and other important things behind the scenes.
She and Alan and their family are such an important part of our soccer family, we wanted them to know how special they are to us and that they are not alone
— Jennifer Vance
Doreen washes the jerseys and gives them out at the beginning of the season. During the season, she provides snacks to the team.
Many girls on the team consider Doreen to be their “team mom.”
“When I found out that the soccer team was honoring my mom it was a wave of shock and a lot of emotions at once,” said her daughter Rayann, “I got really overwhelmed and I felt very proud to have a team that supports one another in times like these.”
All the players and coaches on both teams received a breast cancer awareness bracelet.
“She and Alan and their family are such an important part of our soccer family, we wanted them to know how special they are to us and that they are not alone,” said Vance.
Plans are in the works for a dinner fundraiser in her honor to help with expenses for her treatment.
“[Doreen is a] strong-willed, caring, and a beautiful strong woman,” said her husband Alan Walls.
Hailey Vanish is in her fourth and final year as a member of Tyrone Eagle Eye Newspaper. As she enters her senior year, she hopes to write more stories...
