The UVic Vikes annual Shoot for the Cure night looked a little different this year.
Instead of the men’s and women’s basketball teams playing in front of cheering fans, the women’s team took on Vikes senior athletics director Clint Hamilton and fan Scott Lake in a socially distanced free throw challenge.
“Well it was a lot of fun when the challenge was issued, a good reminder for me of just how high quality our Vikes athletes are and it was good to get out and shoot,” says Hamilton.
“I was a little nervous looking over at Clint and Scott seeing them swish but it was just nice to be able to all be in the gym together again and play basketball,” says Vikes player Ashlyn Day.
Shoot for the Cure began back in 2007 to support former Vikes women’s basketball coach Kathy Shield, who was battling breast cancer. For the past 14 years the initiative has raised funds for the Canadian Cancer Society, and has been adopted by all 48 U Sports women’s basketball teams.
“I think especially with Kathy Shields it’s definitely just something amazing that we can kind of be a part of and take the lead within Usports. There’s definitely a lot of teams that have followed suit,” Darby said.
Even with their annual Shoot for the Cure game and season canceled, the Vikes managed to set a new fundraising record of just over $15,000.
“The reason I think we’re able to achieve those numbers…is a reflection of how the players embraced and it’s really wonderful to see not only the event but to see how the players really embraced the opportunity to go out and find ways to generate some revenue,” says Hamilton .
“It’s pretty awesome that we were able to get together and kind of still put money towards the initiative,” says Day. “It’s definitely a great initiative in the first place so it’s kind of awesome we can still bring it together with COVID.”
Cole Sorenson
