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| | 02 Feb,
2005 | Blending hoops
with hope - Sick children benefit from all-star
fundraiser |
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BY MICHAEL PIASETZKI
- The Chronicle The basketball gods were kind to organizers of last weekend’s fifth annual Sian Bradwell/West Island Lakers Basketball Association (WILBA) All-Star festival at John Rennie High School in Pointe Claire. The weather, always an important part of charity events such as these — a winter snow or ice storm could have been devastating — was perfect. All the participants asked to play in Sunday’s celebrity match showed up. That impressive list included many members of the Montreal Alouettes, former Canadian Olympic basketball player Trevor Williams, Olympic referee Mike Homsy, and numerous well-known media types. The sick children lying in beds suffering from cancer at the Montreal Children’s Hospital thanked them all.  A unison of hands could be seen during action taken from Sunday’s bantam boys’ game at the WILBA/Sian Bradwell All-Star Festival. (Chronicle, Peter McCabe) Over $12,500 aimed towards buying equipment used for cancer-saving treatments at the Montreal Children’s was raised through the canteen, prize raffles, donations and corporate sponsorship during Saturday’s regular house-league games and Sunday’s celebrity game and all-star matches. “The weekend was a marriage of some of the best house-league basketball players showing their stuff with the goodness of West Islanders who were kind enough to give money to help fight cancer,” said West Island Lakers Basketball Association president Mike Gaudin, who came up with the idea of forming that relationship one hot August 2000 afternoon, when he found himself at a local park, observing the annual Sian Bradwell Softball Tournament. He immediately thought of combining the WILBA all-star weekend in February with the Sian Bradwell Fund. Spotting Sharon Bradwell, who brainstormed the tournament with husband Ken after their daughter Sian died of a rare form of cancer when she was only 17 months old, he approached her with the idea. Bradwell immediately concurred, and the ball started to roll. For the fifth straight year, Sharon Bradwell, a former West Island resident now living in Burlington, Ont., made the trip down to offer encouragement. “Looking around, you can’t help but get a really nice feeling that everybody is pitching in to help,” she said. “I can’t say enough about how much people like Barron Miles of the Alouettes and Trevor Williams have done to help make this a success. They’ve been driving forces.” Miles was just one of many Als who showed their community awareness by participating in the celebrity game. Others included Anthony Calvillo, Kevin Johnson, Luke Fritz, Uzooma Okeke, Dave Stahla and West Island resident Paul Lambert. “It’s a great cause,” said Johnson, a hulking six-foot, 230-pound linebacker who attended Ohio State University. “There was never a question of not coming down. To help kids beat cancer is more than enough motivation.” The Lester B. Pearson School Board didn’t need any motivation to help the cause either. It donated $1,200, the amount it usually charges WILBA to rent gym space at John Rennie for the weekend. “Many of our kids play at WILBA,” said Pearson assistant director general Don Taylor. “There’s good value going back to them through WILBA, which is also one our biggest customer. We’ve had a long and strong relationship with them. Most importantly, it’s for a good cause.” Pearson chairman Marcus Tabachnick dropped by on Sunday to formally present the cheque and lend his support. Most of Sunday’s eight boys’ and girls’ all-star matches were entertaining as well. None more than the novice boys’ game, which ended in a 40-40 tie. Source: The Chronicle |
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