Congress, Press Softball Teams Raise Record Funds for Breast Cancer Program

The 8th Annual Congressional Women's Softball Game, held on June 15, raised more than $200,000 in corporate sponsorship, individual donations, and ticket sales to benefit the Young Survival Coalition, a global organization dedicated to critical issues unique to young women who are diagnosed with breast cancer. The CWSG, which features a match between teams comprised of Congressional Representatives and Senators and the Washington press corps, has raised more than $875,000 to date for YSC. According to Roll Call newspaper,  this year's take broke a record.

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Congress Roster
In this year's game, the Press Corps won by a score of 8-4, breaking a three-year winning streak by Team Congress. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham was among those playing for Team Congress. Her teammates included a bipartisan mix of legislators: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Rep. Mia Love of Utah, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and others. The Press Corps (Bad News Babes) included representatives from CNN, The New York Times, PBS News Hour, NPR, Huffington Post and other media outlets. See the rosters for both teams.

"It's pretty competitive, the members of Congress really want to beat the press," Rep.  Kristi Noem  of South Dakota said in an interview with Gray Television

Both teams take the game personally, as evident in some of the pre-game tweets. Here is a comment from  Jill Agostino of The New York Times. “Hey Members! Almost game time — deadline looms, we’re used to this kind of pressure, are you?” Read more Digital Comments

"It’s really great to be able to keep the game close, give a really good game for the spectators to watch," Wasserman Schultz told Roll Call. "What it means is they’re more likely to talk about it next year and hopefully more people will come out,.”

And the players also have fun, as evidenced by this image of Rep. Lujan Grisham (courtesy of a tweet from Jennifer Bendery).

#FF @RepLujanGrisham, because this picture of her will put a smile on your face any day pic.twitter.com/yyvSlXrtcC

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) June 17, 2016