Donning pink shirts and armed with lacrosse sticks, more than 80 girls fought against breast cancer during the second annual Lax for a Cure
charity lacrosse tournament at Park Street Collegiate Institute on Saturday. Carolyn Toll of Oshawa participated in the event and was moved by seeing so many girls playing lacrosse for a “great” cause. “I’m reading the backs of all the girls’ shirts and thinking it’s amazing because everybody’s got somebody,” Toll said, about the names representing who each player is participating for. “You look around and especially at grandma, grandpa, mom, dad … that’s touching.” Toll herself has had someone close to her affected by breast cancer, she said of a friend, who has been cancer-free for one year. “She is a young mother of (two girls),” Toll said. “You want the opportunity to do something fun, but at the same time give back to the people who need it. It’s not just one person it’s the lacrosse community supporting a cause.” Karli MacKendrick of Whitby played to support her mom’s best friend, who has had breast cancer. “They went to a lot of treatments together and I was there and felt what it was like to go through it,” she said.
“You don’t realize how much it affects the family. It’s really hard. Coming here, you know you are playing for a good cause and it’s lots of fun, too,” said MacKendrick.