OTTAWA (CIS) – The CIS Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) proudly announced Friday its fundraising initiative to raise money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - and other related cancer charities - is up and running for a fifth straight season.
  
The Shoot for the Cure campaign has proven an overwhelming success in its first four years with close to $400,000 in donations.
 
At the 2011 CIS championship last March in Windsor, the WBCA presented a cheque for $104,763 to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, surpassing the $94,650 collected in 2009-10 and the amounts from the 2008-09 ($81,512) and 2007-08 ($50,320) seasons.
 
In addition to these impressive totals, $59,896 was amassed over the past three years by schools that elected to donate their fundraised money to local cancer organizations.
 
Once again this year, CIS women’s basketball programs will raise money through regular season games, non-conference matches, tournaments and special events.
 
The University of Manitoba Bisons and Bishop’s University Gaiters kick off the 2011-12 activities this weekend.
 
In Winnipeg, the Bisons host Lakehead, Trinity Western and cross-town rival Winnipeg from Friday to Sunday for the Shoot for the Cure invitational. Meanwhile in Sherbrooke, Que., the Gaiters welcome Toronto, Queen’s, as well as the Montreal Dynamo for the Reebok Shoot for the Cure tournament.
 
“Our objective for this year is to reach half a million dollars raised for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation in the first five years of the initiative, which is really exciting,” stated UNB head coach and Shoot for the Cure project manager, Jeff Speedy. “Another goal is to get all 43 CIS women’s basketball teams to participate, and we are confident we will reach that target this season.”
 
The 2011-12 Shoot for the Cure schedule is currently comprised of 39 events hosted by 36 schools, with more dates to be announced over the next few weeks.
 
The fundraising initiative was the brainchild of Rod Gilpin, the long-time bench boss of the Bishop’s women’s program now in his fourth season as head coach of the Gaiters’ men’s team.
    
2011-12 WBCA SHOOT FOR THE CURE EVENTS:
 
Date - Host - Event            
        
Oct. 14-16       Manitoba                     Bisons Shoot for the Cure Invitational
Oct. 14-16       Bishop’s                      Reebok Shoot for the Cure Tournament
Nov. 4^th           Thompson Rivers        Regular season vs. Fraser Valley
Nov. 5             Regina                         Regular season vs. Saskatchewan
Nov. 12           Trinity Western            Regular season vs. Manitoba  
Nov. 12           UBC                            Regular season vs. Regina
Nov. 18           Carleton                       Regular season vs. Western Ontario
Nov. 18           Waterloo                      Regular season vs. RMC
Nov. 19           Waterloo                      Regular season vs. Queen’s    
Nov. 25           Wilfrid Laurier             Regular season vs. Laurentian
Nov. 25           Alberta                         Regular season vs. Trinity Western
Nov. 26           Alberta                         Regular season vs. Fraser Valley
Nov. 26           StFX                            Regular season vs. Dalhousie
Nov. 26           Saskatchewan              Regular season vs. Trinity Western
Dec. 29-31       Concordia                    Reebok Invitational Tournament
Jan. 13             Winnipeg                     Regular season vs. Brandon (BUZZ OFF Cancer)
Jan. 14             Queen’s                       Regular season vs. York
Jan. 14             Brock                           Regular season vs. Western Ontario
Jan. 14             Dalhousie                    Regular season vs. Saint Mary’s                     
Jan. 21             Lakehead                     Regular season vs. McMaster
Jan. 21             York                            Regular season vs. Toronto
Jan. 21             Lethbridge                   Regular season vs. Calgary
Jan. 21             Laurentian                   Regular season vs. Ryerson
Jan. 27             Acadia                         Regular season vs. Dalhousie
Jan. 27             Ottawa                         Regular season vs. Laurentian
Jan. 28             Guelph                         Regular season vs. Brock        
Jan. 28             Windsor                       Regular season vs. Lakehead
Jan. 28             Laval                           Regular season vs. UQAM
Jan. 28             McGill                         Regular season vs. Concordia
Jan. 28             Calgary                        Regular season vs. Alberta
Feb. 3              Fraser Valley               Regular season vs. UBC
Feb. 3              UNB                            Regular season vs. StFX
Feb. 3              RMC                            Regular season vs. Queen’s
Feb. 4              UNB                            Regular season vs. StFX
Feb. 4              UPEI                            Regular season vs. Dalhousie
Feb. 4              UQAM                         Regular season vs. Concordia
Feb. 10            Toronto                        Regular season vs. Laurentian
Feb. 10            Ryerson                       Regular season vs. York
Feb. 17            Victoria                        Regular season vs. UBC
 

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Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-two universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca.