Student fundraising
Dunking on cancer
November 25, 2024
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The annual charity basketball game between engineering and commerce students has raised nearly $500,000 for cancer research since it began. (Jack Shanlin)
The student-run Tri-Colour Classic is quickly becoming a beloved fall-term tradition in the Queen’s and Kingston communities. Through the third edition of the annual game, which was recently played in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,800 at downtown Kingston’s Slush Puppie Place, Queen’s students raised more than $250,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society.
The annual charity basketball game was started by students in 2021 and pits engineering and commerce students against each other in friendly competition and has raised nearly $500,000 for cancer research since it began.
“It’s amazing to see how much the support we’ve received from the community has grown since the Tri-Colour Classic began,” says Mark Novakovic, Co-Chair of Tri-Colour Classic and fourth-year commerce student. “We set out to raise $250,000 this year, and we were able to reach it thanks to the generosity of our sponsors and supporters and the dedication of all the students who worked so hard to bring this together for the cause of helping children and families fighting against cancer.”
More than sixty students worked for six months to plan for the game, which drew a sold-out crowd of 4,800. (Jack Shanlin)
The funds raised by the Tri-Colour Classic support the lab of Donald Mabbott at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Dr. Mabbott researches a new method for boosting cognitive function and improving quality of life for children whose brains have been affected by treatment for medulloblastoma, a brain cancer most commonly diagnosed in children that requires aggressive treatment for survival.
More than sixty students dedicated approximately 5-10 hours or more of their time each week for six months to plan for the event, serving on the executive team, as brand ambassadors helping with promotion, as players or coaches on the two teams, and in other roles.
As a new feature for this year’s event, all students involved in the Tri-Colour Classic created fundraising webpages that highlighted their personal motivations for fighting against cancer. These pages were added to the two other primary sources of fundraising: sponsorships from various businesses and organizations and also ticket sales for the game itself. The student who raised the most donations, Andreas Berganza-Kovacevic, was presented with the Most Impactful Player (MIP) award at Slush Puppie Place.
The MIP award has been presented at each edition of the Tri-Colour Classic, but this year it was named in honour of Kathryn Stewart, a first-year Queen’s student who passed away in 2022 at the age of 19 after battling cancer since the age of five. The idea to name the award after Kathryn came from a group of students at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) who, as part of a practicum for a course at TMU, collaborated on media products for the Tri-Colour Classic, including a about her experience with cancer. Kathryn’s parents Heather (ArtSci’92) and Greg Stewart were on hand to present the award.
“It was really meaningful to have the Stewarts at the game and to find this new way of honouring the memory of Kathryn and others who have fought against cancer,” says Logan Baranieski, Co-Chair of Tri-Colour Classic and fourth-year commerce student. “That’s something that’s really exciting about the Tri-Colour Classic. Since it’s a relatively new club there’s a lot of room for students to come up with new ideas and there’s a lot of opportunity for growth.”
The student-led event raised more than $250,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society. (Jack Shanlin)
The Tri-Colour Classic executive team found many new ways to expand the club’s operations and enhance the game this year. They introduced a March Madness-style basketball tournament played on campus at the Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC) this past spring that raised approximately $14,000. They created five $1,000 scholarships for students in Canada who have been impacted by cancer. And the group of TMU students assisting with media worked with CBC Sports to have the engineering vs. commerce game streamed live on YouTube, which reached more than 4,000 viewers across the country.
The executive team also found ways to get more members of the Queen’s community involved in the game itself. The Queen’s Bands performed during the opening ceremony at Slush Puppie Place, and six professors from Smith Business and Smith Engineering took part in a halftime basketball skills competition.
“Going forward the Tri-Colour Classic is going to keep finding new ways to engage the campus and Kingston communities and continue working to raise more funds for the Canadian Cancer Society,” says Novakovic. “We’re hoping to expand so that more people from across Queen’s can take part and maybe even people at other universities. Nothing’s confirmed yet, but we have some ideas in the works.”
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