Road Hockey To Conquer Cancer to raise funding for personalized medicine

It was an ordinary workday, and while business people scurried through Commerce Court, all of a sudden, they stopped in their tracks. What is going on? Where did those hockey sticks come from? How did those nets appear? Who's doing play-by-play? There's a road hockey game in progress!! But what the heck is with those guys wearing jockstraps over their suits?

After an extraordinary inaugural event in 2011 that raised $2.4 million for cancer research at The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Canadian Cancer Society, Road Hockey To Conquer Cancer kicked off its sophomore campaign with a flash-mob road hockey game on February 7 at 12:30pm in the courtyard at Commerce Court (south-east corner of King and Bay). Participants joined the game wearing a cup (athletic support, jockstrap, jill) outside of their clothing in a nod to 'showing their cup for cancer.'

Road Hockey To Conquer Cancer, presented by Boston Pizza, is a dawn-to-dusk road hockey tournament designed to raise essential funding for personalized cancer medicine at The Princess Margaret and vital cancer research at the Canadian Cancer Society. Registered teams of 8-12 players,16 years of age and older will play at least 5 games of road hockey through the day on Saturday, September 29 at Ontario Place. Celebrities, food, refreshments and entertainment are all part of the epic fundraising day.

"A flash-mob hockey game is a really fun way for The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation to initiate registration and fundraising for our second annual Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer event," stated Paul Alofs, President & CEO of The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation. "We already have 85 teams signed up for our September 29 event and the spontaneous game drew even more interest and registrations."

"At the Canadian Cancer Society, we fight back every day through funding life-saving research, advocacy and supporting cancer patients and their families," said Martin Kabat, CEO, Canadian Cancer Society, Ontario Division. "We are pleased to be part of this initiative that engages Canadians in their favourite sport to make an impact in the fight against cancer."

Dr. Benjamin Neel, Director of The Campbell Family Cancer Research Institute at The Princess Margaret, said, "Today, researchers are embarking on a new era of discovery with personalized cancer medicine. Events like Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer have a major impact on the resources needed to conquer cancer in our lifetime."