Pink is the new black — for sports fashion, that is.

It’s the trend that seems to grow each year with more and more professional, college and even high school athletics teams breaking out some sort of pink attire for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The easily recognizable pink ribbon was adopted as the symbol for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in 1992, paving the way for athletics to show awareness using the color.

Iowa State is no exception, with multiple sports showing their support for breast cancer with specific events dedicated to wearing pink uniforms and encouraging fans to wear pink as well.

The ISU volleyball team had their Dig Pink match on Oct. 4 against West Virginia. After just wearing pink hair wraps in previous years, the Cyclones have recently upped the color ante, donning full pink jerseys and encouraging fans to join them in wearing pink.

The events often end up being equally beneficial in bringing awareness to the cause and uniting the athletic team and crowd. Former ISU volleyball player Ashley Mass shared her experience after her final Dig Pink game in 2010.

“I think it’s an awesome opportunity for us to showcase a cause like that,” Mass said. “The theme of everyone wearing pink definitely got the crowd excited for the game. Pink is such a bright color that it makes everybody so happy and enthused.”

Similar events like ISU soccer’s Think Pink game, played on Oct. 5, have further brought awareness to the cause. Even ISU football players have shown their support despite no official event dedicated to football, with some players wearing pink shoelaces against Toledo earlier this season.

But breast cancer awareness hasn’t been limited to the month of October. The ISU women’s basketball team participates in the Kay Yow Cancer Fund’s Play 4Kay game annually in February. According to the Play 4Kay website, the initiative’s goal is to raise breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in the community and beyond.

For one event a year, athletes get to play for something more than just a win or championship — they play to raise awareness for a deadly disease that reaches across rivalries and differences.

“I’m glad we’re playing at home,” said former ISU basketball star Anna Prins before playing in 2012’s ‘Play 4Kay’ game. “And it is a pink game so obviously we’re playing for something bigger than just basketball.”