Shoot for the Cure back for ninth year, closes in on $1M benchmark
The CIS Women’s Basketball Coaches Association proudly announced Friday its fundraising initiative to raise money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - and other related charities - is up and running for the ninth straight year.
CIS women's basketball
OTTAWA (CIS) – The CIS Women's Basketball Coaches Association proudly announced Friday its fundraising initiative to raise money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - and other related charities - is up and running for the ninth straight year.
The Shoot for the Cure campaign has proven an overwhelming success since it was launched in the fall of 2007 with over $886,000 in donations. This season, for the fifth year in a row, all 47 CIS women's basketball schools are set to participate in the program.
At the 2015 CIS championship in Quebec City last March, the WBCA presented a cheque for $102,312.05 to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. An additional $23,049.71 was amassed by universities that elected to donate their fundraised money to local or provincial organizations, bringing the overall Shoot for the Cure total for the 2014-15 season to $125,361.76.
This year's edition of Shoot for the Cure could prove the most special to date, thanks to the fast approaching $1,000,000 benchmark and the launch of a new coast-to-coast project, the Pink Ball Journey.
"This is a very special year," said Jeff Speedy, Shoot for the Cure project manager, WBCA president and head coach at the University of New Brunswick. "We should easily pass the $1,000,000 mark for total money raised since the inception of this event nine years ago. In addition, we are launching the journey of a pink basketball from the University of Victoria to Memorial University of Newfoundland. This journey starts at UVic on Saturday, will hit every CIS women's basketball campus during the season, and will conclude with Memorial passing the ball off to UNB at the national championship in March."
Over the course of its cross-country journey, the pink Wilson basketball will be signed by every CIS head coach.
"The journey symbolizes the struggle people are going through to fight this deadly disease and how we are all in this fight to cure cancer together," Speedy said. "There will be some great photo ops with the ball every step of the way and everyone can follow the journey on Twitter, as we will be using the hashtags #CoastToCoast and #ShootForTheCure all season long."
Once again this year, CIS schools will raise money through regular season games, tournaments and other special events. The first Shoot for the Cure games of 2015-16 are scheduled for Oct. 8 as part of the University of Calgary's women and men's Calgary Cup tournaments.
The 2016 CIS championship is set for March 17 to 20 at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton.
The fundraising initiative was the brainchild of Rod Gilpin, the long-time bench boss of Bishop's women's program now in his eighth season as head coach of the Gaiters' men.
SHOOT FOR THE CURE YEAR-BY-YEAR DONATIONS:
2014-2015: $125,361.76 ($102,312.05 to CBCF)
2013-2014: $138,360.58 ($112,898.03 to CBCF)
2012-2013: $110,553.96 ($90,450.62 to CBCF)
2011-2012: $121,248.70 ($98,706.92 to CBCF)
2010-2011: $143,596.25 ($104,763.53 to CBCF)
2009-2010: $104,715.80 ($94,650.96 to CBCF)
2008-2009: $92,512.96 ($81,512.96 to CBCF)
2007-2008: $50,320.87 ($50,320.87 to CBFC)
TOTAL: $886,670.88 ($735,615.94 to CBCF)
SHOOT FOR THE CURE 2015-2016 SCHEDULE:
Date – Time (all times local) - Host - Event
October
8 - Calgary Calgary Cup Tournaments (women & men) 16-18 - Manitoba Shoot for the Cure Tournament
November
6 18:00 UBC Regular season vs. Alberta
7 17:00 Trinity Western Regular season vs. Victoria
7 18:00 Ottawa Regular season vs. Laurentian
20 18:00 UPEI Regular season vs. Cape Breton
20 18:00 Carleton Regular season vs. Algoma
20 18:00 Thompson Rivers Regular season vs. MacEwan
27 18:00 Waterloo Regular season vs. York
27 18:00 Mount Royal Regular season vs. UNBC
27 18:00 MacEwan Regular season vs. UBC Okanagan
28 17:00 Alberta Regular season vs. Regina
January
9 18:00 StFX Regular season vs. UNB
9 17:00 UBC Okanagan Regular season vs. Thompson Rivers
9 17:00 UNBC Regular season vs. MacEwan
16 18:00 Nipissing Regular season vs. Laurentian
16 18:15 Saskatchewan Regular season vs. Lethbridge
22 18:00 Dalhousie Regular season vs. Saint Mary's
22 18:00 Toronto Regular season vs. Ottawa
23 13:00 McGill Regular season vs. Concordia
23 13:00 York Regular season vs. Queen's
23 18:00 Algoma Regular season vs. Lakehead
27 18:00 Laurier Regular season vs. Windsor
27 18:00 Brock Regular season vs. Guelph
29 18:00 Winnipeg Regular season vs. Saskatchewan
29 18:00 Victoria Regular season vs. UBC
30 13:00 Western Regular season vs. Laurier
30 14:00 Winnipeg Regular season vs. Saskatchewan
30 17:00 UQAM Regular season vs. Laval
30 17:00 Lethbridge Regular season vs. Alberta
30 18:00 Lakehead Regular season vs. McMaster
February
3 18:00 Ryerson Regular season vs. Brock
6 18:00 Memorial Regular season vs. Dalhousie
6 18:00 Queen's Regular season vs. Lakehead
6 18:00 Bishop's Regular season vs. Concordia
6 18:00 Windsor Regular season vs. Nipissing
12 18:00 Saint Mary's Regular season vs. Acadia
12 18:00 McMaster Regular season vs. Ottawa
12 18:00 / 20:00 Brandon Regular season vs. UBC (women & men)
12 18:00 Fraser Valley Regular season vs. Thompson Rivers
12-14 - UNB Basketball & volleyball games throughout weekend
13 14:00/16:00 Concordia Regular season vs. McGill (women & men)
13 18:00 Laurentian Regular season vs. Nipissing
19 18:00 Acadia Regular season vs. UNB
19 18:00 Laval Regular season vs. McGill
19 18:00 Guelph Regular season vs. Toronto
19 18:00 Regina Regular season vs. Saskatchewan
26 18:00 Cape Breton Regular season vs. Dalhousie
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