These 71 Rugby Players Got Naked to Help Fight Testicular Cancer (Video)
After the successful release of their 2018 calendar, 71 rugby players from six queer-inclusive teams around the United Kingdom have joined up to strip down for the Naked Rugby Players calendar 2019. Not only does it feature your annually recommended allotment of rugger beef, but its proceeds also benefit Balls to Cancer, a registered charity looking to combat testicular cancer.
The Naked Rugby Players calendar has 19 more men than its predecessor. The calendar shows these naked rugby players in all sorts of positions, from shower time to a team huddle. Plus, the men are from all different backgrounds, shapes and sizes.
Photographer Monty McKinnen says, “As with the first calendar, our brief has always been the same — take the individuals as we find them. We didn’t want models, we wanted characters, and showing these characters in this artistic light shows the beauty in us all.”
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The men came together to raise funds for and awareness of testicular cancer, a disease that affects 200,000 new men in the U.K. every year.
The American Cancer Society estimates that this year alone doctors have diagnosed 9,310 new cases of testicular cancer and 400 men have died due to testicular cancer. But thankfully there’s lots of good news, too.
First, the disease isn’t super common: Only one in 250 men will get it, and most will detect it before age 33. Also, the death rate for testicular cancer is very low — only one in 5,000 men diagnosed will die from it.
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But as with all cancers, it’s important to detect it early. Head here for quick-and-easy information about checking yourself for testicular cancer.
