Women’s hockey team proves that sometimes, it’s more than just a game
On Nov. 9, the Gryphons women’s hockey team will host the Windsor Lancers at the Gryphon Centre at 2 p.m. The game will feature many important headlines; including the fight for Guelph to remain in a hunt for first place in the OUA, and the quest for a fifth straight win to improve on their already impressive 7-2-0 start to the season.
However, every now and then, sport transcends being just a game. It evolves into an event far bigger than winning and losing, offense and defense; and Saturday’s marquee matchup will be an example of when sport becomes bigger than numbers.
Kevin Siddall, 14 year-old brother of Brooke Siddall, senior goaltender for the Gryphons, was recently diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancer. As the unknowns of health and life became a stark reality for the Siddall family, the community of women that make up the Gryphons hockey team began rallying in a truly inspirational show of solidarity for their teammate.
Michelle Sabourin, four-year teammate and good friend of Siddall, got the proverbial ball rolling for the initiative called “Fight for Kevin.” The decision to create an initiative to help the Siddall family was an easy one for Sabourin:
“Brooke and her entire family are people that would do anything for anyone, and after hearing the news about Kevin, I wanted to make sure I was there to support and help in her family’s fight as much as possible. Cancer is also something that has touched my family and many of my teammates, so this was a great cause and event to get people out to support the fight.”
Once it was established that the team was going to raise money, the next step was to decide where the money was going. “We discussed what we should be raising money for,” said Siddall. “I said that most importantly it should be going to the people who have helped us, which is ChildCan.”
ChildCan is an organization developed to support children and families through childhood cancer. Their mission statement: to raise funds to provide responsive and compassionate support services to families facing the journey through childhood cancer – from diagnosis, treatment, recovery, or bereavement.
“ChildCan has provided this [room] at the Ronald McDonald House…Whether we’re in London or Toronto, and it’s basically set up so you pay $10 a night and you get a hotel room with free food at every meal…It’s super helpful, so you don’t have to do that stuff yourself.” Siddall said of the opportunity.
The women immediately began ordering the rubber wristbands normally worn for cancer awareness, and had them made lime green with “FFK” inscribed in it.
Immediately, the popularity of these bracelets grew. “I came here for my first week of school and I had these green bracelets that I gave to my team…But then the guy’s team asked for them and I don’t know half of them,” said Siddall as she reflected on a particular experience that had her enthusiastic. “I was sitting outside one day when I saw a guy wearing the bracelet. I didn’t know who he was. He didn’t know who I was [personally], so that’s pretty cool…to have the support of the women’s and men’s team is huge. We’re like a family,” said Siddall, with a smile stretching from ear to ear.
The game itself hopes to draw a big crowd from both Windsor and Guelph. The Siddalls call Windsor home, and with four siblings of all of different ages, the support networks for Kevin and the family have been “amazing,” according to Siddall. “My family is involved in a lot of things in the [Windsor] community…and we’ve gotten different aspects of everyone contributing, it’s not just a school community or a baseball community or a hockey community. There’s four of us siblings, and we’ve got people participating from all over.”
While Windsor normally sports white, blue and gold, and Guelph normally sports black, red and gold, the women’s team is asking all attendees to sport lime green to raise awareness for Lymphoma – a feature that hopes to galvanize both teams and fans for a cause far bigger than the game of hockey.
Tickets are free for students and #FFK bracelets will be sold at the game. The team also plans to sell raffle tickets and they are accepting cash donations as well, with all proceeds going straight to ChildCan. This will be a great opportunity to not only cheer on a Gryphons team that sits second in the OUA, but for the always philanthropic nature of the Guelph community to be displayed loud and proud for such a monumental event.
Wishes and prayers are with the Siddall family – Guelph stands strong with you.