For the 10th time, the Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs senior girls' basketball team invited the community to join them for the Victor Elias Memorial Shoot for a Cure Tournament.
Bill Mann, the father of the school counsellor Carol Graff, who was first diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma in the spring of 2005, was chosen as a recipient of the funds raised this year.
Mann says that his condition is minor and when he was first approached to receive recognition he resisted the offer. His daughter was the one who suggested his candidature.
“Through discussions with the admin level, she got me aligned with it… At first, I resisted, and Carol, my daughter said, ‘Well, I think they want you to be the guy, dad,’” recalled Mann. “I was a little bit humbled because I didn’t feel that I was a worthy recipient of that recognition. Because my condition is quite minor in nature.”
In June of 2005, he went through two surgeries to have the skin cancer removed from his left forearm. For three years everything was good, but then the sarcoma had grown back again. In 2008, Mann went through another surgery and was all clear for some time. But unfortunately, in 2018 the cancer came back again and another surgery along with daily radiation was recommended. The surgery wasn’t entirely successful, and further surgeries will be necessary which may lead to amputation of his forearm. As of today, he is living with malignant soft tissue sarcoma and being monitored every three months with the knowledge that more issues may arise.
Despite the long history of a disease, Mann said he still lives his life to the fullest and says his condition is minor.
“It’s quite minor, it’s still there, but it’s very static. It’s not migrating or metastasizing very much at all. Perhaps it’s ‘at all’ yet, but my condition is minor. I was first diagnosed with that back in 2005, and it’s still the same way. I’m only rating as stage one which is minor in nature. Many, many people are quite healthy at stage one, and I’m one of those,” said Mann.
However, the idea of raising cancer awareness was dear to him.
“I like the idea of being a face for the cause. Putting myself out there as a frontal person… for the public to support cancer research and for people in need with cancer therapies that are going on. But I feel good about participating at that level, that’s for sure.”
Elecs coach Jessie Smoliak said she was very proud of her team and very thankful that they could help Mann.
“It was so nice seeing the support of his family and the community come out and support him, along with our team at our pink game on Friday night. After all of the donations and proceeds were collected we made just under $5,000.”
Mann was grateful for the opportunity and praised the school and the team for organization and fundraising efforts.
“There are so many needs in Canada and in the world, for donations to go towards cancer research and figuring out how we can put an end to this terrible thing that’s affecting so many people,” said Mann. “I was glad to participate, and I was really impressed with the girls on the team. They are a dynamic group of young women and to link up with them and join with them on their initiative and to help boost their enthusiasm and community spirit, I’m very glad and happy to do that.”
At the ceremony, the Elecs Haylee Jones presented Mann with a quilt her grandmother made for him.
To celebrate the 10 years of great tradition, all previous years’ recipients or their family members were also invited to participate in the opening ceremony.
“It was so nice to see our previous beneficiaries and their families. Watching our team give them roses during our ceremony really make me realize how much cancer has affected our community and those that we love. Stronger together was a theme this year and it was great to see everyone come together for a memorable evening,” said Smoliak.
Mann also performed O Canada bringing the ceremony to an end. The invitation to sing the anthem came as a surprise for him but wasn’t difficult since he’s done it before when he was aligned with hockey through Estevan Bruins, Bienfait Coalers and minor hockey in Bienfait. He also plays guitar and leads the choir in his church.
Lumsden and Estevan players had pink balloons with names of people who had cancer and who they were dedicating their game to. During a moment of silence, they let the balloons fly in the air.
The pink tournament is the concept of the Assiniboia coach Al Wandler, whose team wanted to raise money for a Fillmore basketball player that was battling cancer. They wanted to do something that stood out to every team, so they bought Fillmore pink uniforms.
Smoliak is originally from Fillmore and was the one who brought the tradition over to Estevan in memory of her father Victor Elias who lost the fight to cancer three years ago after battling the disease for 24 years.
