The fourth annual Team Addy basketball tournament returns this weekend.
The tournament is in support of sarcoma cancer research after Elora, Ont., teenager Addison Hill died of the disease in 2022.
Jessica Hill, Addison’s mother and founder of the Team Addy initiative, said it was initially her daughter’s idea to start the fundraiser.
Hill said her daughter wanted to do more for children battling sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, while she was undergoing chemotherapy at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children a few years ago.
“It was initially can we reach out to her basketball coach and see if we can just host a basketball game? I’d have some cotton candy and some ice cream and just started like that and started putting our brains together,” Hill said.
In 2022, Addison’s coach at the Centre Wellington Celtics basketball program created a 3-on-3 tournament that has since become one of Canada’s largest amateur basketball competitions. It was Addison’s idea to use it to raise money for cancer research.
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Hill said Addison would have been so happy to see how the fundraiser has evolved since then.
“She would walk around with the biggest smile on her face, knowing that she’s making an impact, because she wanted to help those kids at SickKids. So, to honour that wish is my honour,” she said.
For the last three years, the tournament has been played at Centre Wellington District High School in Fergus, but it will move to the University of Guelph on Saturday to accommodate the participating teams. It begins at 9 a.m. and will feature nearly 200 teams playing on 16 courts.
Hill said there will be something for everyone, including a barbecue, a live DJ, a three-point shootout, a slam dunk contest and face painting.
Hill said the event’s fundraising goal is $100,000. The tournament, along other third-party events, has raised over half a million dollars for cancer research.
She said proceeds from the tournament will go towards cancer research at SickKids.
“Addison did leave her mark here. Those who met, and those who she hadn’t met, feel like they know. Her story is so inspiring, and we just wanted to give back to sarcoma cancer research at SickKids,” she said.
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