Canadian women's rugby 7s fundraising for cancer research ahead of home tournament
Team members have personal ties to cause
Canada's entry at the Langford, B.C., stop on the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series later this month should be easy to spot.
The Canadian women are taking part in Colour Your Hair to Conquer Cancer, a campaign to raise funds for the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.
For players like Sara Kaljuvee and former captain Jen Kish, it's very personal. Kaljuvee lost her mother in 2016 after a 10-year battle with cancer.
"She showed me what it means to be a fighter. I do this with you mom, I love you," the 25-year-old from Ajax, Ont., wrote on the team fundraising page.
Kish's father is dealing with the after-effects of his colon cancer treatment.
"He was on a pretty aggressive chemo treatment," said the 29-year-old from Edmonton, who announced her retirement Monday. "It sucks because he's still in pain every single day because of what those drugs did to him.
"But you know he has a heartbeat and he's grateful for that. He's living life to the fullest as always and still cracking jokes."
Both players are honorary chairs of the fundraising campaign.
Hey Canada. Thanks for helping our team raise $3,496.00 thus far for Cancer Research! We r grateful!<br><br>Hoping we can hit our 10k goal by Mid May. Pls share this tweet. No donation is too small!<br><br>Check out our team page ⬇ <a href="https://t.co/hTvzxTerzj">https://t.co/hTvzxTerzj</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Colour2CC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Colour2CC</a> <a href="https://t.co/yRP4E4osJt">pic.twitter.com/yRP4E4osJt</a>
—@jen_kishParticipants can make a direct donation online or set a fundraising goal, ask others to support them or challenge friends to join the campaign.
The Canadian rugby women are already close to raising half of their $10,000 goal. Kish and Kaljuvee also have their own fundraising pages.
"The reason why I was so keen on being a part of it is it's one of the top research facilities in the world," Kish said in an interview.
Nick Taylor, senior director of new revenue for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, hopes that the fundraising campaign can become a fixture each May, as Movember has done in November.
"We want it to repeat, we want it to grow," said Taylor.
"Our sole job as a foundation is to raise $100 million annually ... We need to do that to continue to fuel the engine which is the researchers that are trying to find tomorrow's treatment today and translate that scientific breakthrough into care in the hospital, in the cancer centre." he added.
Kish, who already sports a shock of blond hair, says she is considering going either silver or grey for the cause
The Langford tournament runs May 12-13. CBC Sports will live stream the event.