In 2008, at the height of his success as a basketball coach with Eastern Commerce senior girl’s team, Kareem Griffin’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Just over a year later, at 52 years of age, she passed away.
Shoot 4 a Cure Basketball Showcase was created in memory of Oselyn Griffin, beginning in 2011 as a single exhibition game between Griffin’s Eastern Commerce Saints and the Bill Crothers Colts. Fifteen years later, the showcase goes on, growing into a massive three-day event at York University’s Tait McKenzie Centre from October 9th-11th, where some of the best women’s high school basketball teams from across Canada and the United States will compete to help raise money for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.
“I can’t say enough for the basketball community that have rallied behind it, both in Canada and America,” says Griffin. “I owe them a lot because they didn’t really have to, but it’s for a good cause.”
Shoot 4 a Cure has raised over $20,000 for cancer research since 2011, making a difference by honouring survivors and remembering those whose lives have been taken by the disease. It’s also an opportunity to do something increasingly rare in this era of commercialized and privatized high school sports, which is to come together for the purely altruistic reason of uniting against a disease and using basketball to raise funds and awareness.
Sometimes it’s even more personal than that. Ahriahna Grizzle participated in Shoot 4 a Cure all four years of her high school career at Bill Crothers before going onto play in the NCAA. “And I remember it meaning a lot to me at the time because… my mom had actually just been diagnosed with breast cancer in July of that same year,” Grizzle tells me about her first time participating. “So, I was really looking forward to being able to raise money to support not only what my mother was going through, but what so many other women go through on a daily basis,
“It really, really touched home for me.”
Grizzle’s Colts won all four of their games each time she participated in the event, taking home MVP honours in 2018. “My first year in the tournament, my mom actually came to the game right after her chemotherapy session, so I vaguely remember that experience, and her coming straight from chemo meant a lot,” Grizzle says. “That was also really special for me to be able to win that game for my mom.”
The tournament has hosted incredible talent from Canada’s women’s basketball community, including WNBA players like Aaliyah Edwards, Laeticia Amihere, and Latasha Lattimore. Although it started out as a humble exhibition game, there is now a junior and senior prep division, including eight of the top teams from America coming to join the fun.
Part of the reason Shoot 4 a Cure has grown so much in the 15 years since its founding is because so many people are affected by cancer. Whether it’s the athletes themselves like Grizzle or coaches, trainers, program directors, friends, or family, Griffin has created a unique tournament that uses basketball for a bigger purpose. This year, the event will also be celebrating the lives of Patrick Brown, Faiz Ahmed, Junior Donaldson, Hugh Riley, and Paul Weekes — giants who made an unforgettable impact on the Canadian basketball community.
“It helps people resonate with it a lot more,” says Griffin. “People understand that this is not just — yes, it’s a tournament. It’s about basketball — but I tell people all the time that I could care less. It could be five-year-olds that are playing in this tournament. It’s not about that. It’s about donations to Princess Margaret and the memory of my mom and anybody who has lost somebody or someone who’s going through cancer treatment right now, it’s for them. That’s the purpose of it.”
With Shoot 4 a Cure celebrating its fifteenth anniversary this weekend, it’s worth considering what a monumental accomplishment that is in a Canadian basketball environment marked by funding issues and a lack of facilities — one in which tournaments often come and go periodically.
“It’s really impressive what Kareem has built here, and that he’s been able to continue to grow this tournament, for it to have that type of longevity. I’m really proud and happy that I was a part of something that was able to go on for 15 years and counting,” says Grizzle. “And I think it definitely does push me to find other ways to support this cause. Being able to find other ways to contribute to find a cure, and just looking for different opportunities to help raise awareness.”
You can donate to The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation here and support Shoot 4 a Cure by attending the tournament October 9-11 at York University.
Written by Oren Weisfeld
