In their inaugural season, the Nipissing Lakers women’s basketball team is joining an eight year tradition that has raised almost one million dollars for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
The annual Shoot for the Cure game, and the Lakers’ first ever, will take place Friday night, January 23rd against the Laurentian Voyageurs as the teams begin what will likely be an intense rivalry.
Lakers head coach Marg Jones feels this event should be the beginning of a great tradition at Nipissing University.
“It’s an honour to be part of the ‘Shoot for the Cure’ initiative and I am so pleased with the enthusiasm that our team has demonstrated towards the fundraising in our first ever Shoot for the Cure game at Nipissing. Each player is working hard to generate donations from friends and family, and so far the individual amounts raised have surpassed expectations,” Jones said.
“Nipissing and Laurentian's women's basketball programs were approached by Michele Girash of the Canadian Brest Cancer Foundation who suggested to Jason Hurley (LU Head coach) and I, that we make the Shoot for the Cure Fundraising an annual fundraising competition between our two programs. Jason and I were both immediately onboard,” Jones explained. “This will be an annual competition between our programs and the CBCF is kindly donating a trophy that will go to the home of the fundraising winner each year."
The Lakers are eager about the opportunity to get on board with such a great cause and they’re hoping to make an impactful donation.
The student-athletes are excited to be a part of this annual event, as they understand the impact that breast cancer has had on so many lives, including some close to them. They have been working hard to promote the game and fundraise for the event and have already surpassed their original fundraising goal.
A tonne of exciting events will be taking place, including a bean bag toss, with proceeds going to the CBCF. The team will also announce their donation to the CBCF by making a cheque donation during the evening.
The Lakers will entertain the Voyageurs, with both teams competing head-to-head on the court, as well as off of it as they try to raise more money than their Highway 17 neighbours.
The teams will play again on Jan. 31 in Sudbury, with the Voyageurs holding their Shoot for the Cure game that night.
Jones is excited about hosting the game, as well as heading to Sudbury and participating in the Voyageurs game.
While it’s a competition on and off the court, the ability to raise money and awareness for a great organization is the real purpose of the endeavour.
"Nipissing Women's basketball will take great pride in making our first ever donation to the CBCF. Our team fundraising will continue until the ‘Shoot for the Cure’ game at Laurentian on Jan. 31, so we hope that the Lakers Family will continue to contribute to a great cause,” Jones added.
You can support the Shoot for the Cure and the Lakers Women’s Basketball program by heading to this link below:
http://my.e2rm.com/TeamPage.aspx?teamID=585600&langPref=en-CA
