FAQs

Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer is proceeding as planned, and will be held on October 1, 2022, at the Smart VMC in Vaughan.

We will continue to keep participants updated via email, social, and on our website should there be any changes to event plans.

At The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, our fundraising events are crucial to funding world-leading cancer research and care at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. We are as committed as ever to ensuring safe, healthy and inspiring events in the years ahead.

As we plan for this year’s Road Hockey event, we know there are uncertainties with the COVID-19 pandemic and government restrictions. We are closely following the World Health Organization (WHO), Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and our University Health Network (UHN) guidelines.

We of course want to also ensure you show up healthy on game day. That is why all participants will still be required to go through the standard COVID screening on-site.Once permitted, participants will receive an event wristband indicating they have access to everything on site.

As things evolve, we may need to modify some aspects of Road Hockey for the safety of all our participants, volunteers and supporters. We kindly ask for your patience as we determine the form those modifications (if any) may take.

One thing that will not change is our commitment to Conquering Cancer in our Lifetime and as always, we thank you for partnering with us in our mission.

Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer is a dawn-to-dusk road hockey event, taking place on Saturday, October 1, 2022 at the Smart VMC in Vaughan. Each team plays a minimum of four games through the course of an exciting day, and in-between, there will be food, beverages, entertainment, and other activities to keep participants engaged. 

Anyone 16 or older can take part in this event, which is open to all people , and all skill levels are welcome. 

You never know who you’ll be rubbing shoulders with at Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer! That’s part of the fun. We’ve already seen teams form with hockey legends and celebrities. More formally, there is a celebrity component to Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer. Top fundraising teams will have the opportunity to draft an honourary captain/coach from a pool of celebrities. For example, the top fundraising team overall gets to choose first, the team that raises the second-highest amount of money gets to choose second and so on. 

Check the Celebrities page regularly to discover who has been added to the celebrity draft.

We are grateful to have an outstanding group of sponsors supporting Road Hockey. A full list of event partners can be found at RoadHockeytoConquerCancer.ca. 

Please visit the Road Hockey website at RoadHockeytoConquerCancer.ca or email Jordan at Jordan.Harding@thepmcf.ca. 

A personal player page is a webpage that you customize and send to your business contacts, friends and family when asking for donations. Once you register, you will have a personal player page automatically created for you. You have the option of personalizing the image, text and layout on your page by going to your participant centre. Your personal player page is where you can let your supporters know why you are taking part in this epic road hockey event.
SPECIAL TIP: Participants who take the time to personal their page, raise on average 20% more than those who don’t. 

Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer’s Free Agent Pool allows individuals to Register for the event even if they cannot field an entire team. Once registered as a Free Agent, you are able to create your player profile and begin your fundraising. Team Captains then have the opportunity to review the pool and invite Free Agents to join their team. What do I need to bring in order to play?

At its most basic, Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer requires nothing more than a pair of running shoes and a hockey stick. You may wish to wear other equipment, though. We strongly suggest that participants wear a helmet and mouth guard, as well as hockey gloves. Players may wish to wear other gear, including shin pads, etc., but those choices are completely voluntary. Goaltenders are required to wear a proper mask at all times while in net. We strongly recommend full goalie equipment. 

If you are injured while at Road Hockey, have one of your teammates notify the nearest Pad supervisor and our on-site medical volunteers, doctors or emergency medical personnel will be notified and respond immediately. 

No need to pack a lunch, or any other meal for that matter. Breakfast, lunch and snacks will all be provided for participants. Vegetarian options are available for each meal. If you want to discuss meals at the event, please contact us at hockey@teamuptoconquercancer.ca. 

There is free parking at the SmartVMC that is available to participants and guests. For parking and travel updates, please check the Event Day Information page. 

Yes, there will be preferred hotel rates leading up the event. To inquire on discounted rates, you must e-mail our Road Hockey Office. 

Teams will be informed which teams are playing in their division upon check-in on game day. The Road Hockey Office will use the results from the divisional survey to best accommodate requests teams have made, however, as a result of skill levels requested there are no guarantees. 

A game day kit is provided to all captains upon check-in at the event, which contains; a game day schedule of events, site map, beer tickets (2 per player), t-shirts and any onsite giveaways. 

There is a team minimum of $10,000 to participate in Game Day. With 12 players on a team, this works out to just over $800 raised per person. We provide matching credit opportunities throughout the fundraising “season” so be sure to keep an eye out for the emails about matching credits, if you’d like your team to take advantage of these opportunities.

If your team has fallen short of the minimum in the week leading up to Game Day, we will ask the captain to fill out a delayed fundraising form. The captain provides us with a credit card and this gives the team an extra 90 days after the event to fundraise and achieve the minimum. If the minimum is not achieved 90 days after the event, the credit card will be charged (after we notify the captain) for the balance. This ensures each team on Game Day achieved the fundraising minimum and we are treating all participants equally.

No. Your registration fee does not apply towards your fundraising minimum, however it does go to ensuring you have a safe and fun event experience.

Yes, Road Hockey's website is designed to securely accept donations. In fact, this is the most efficient and quickest way to donate. Tell your family and friends that they can sponsor your participation as a player by selecting the ‘Donate’ button. By entering your name in the search bar, they will be directed to your personal Player Page. Tax receipts are issued automatically with online donations (for any gift over $15).

Credit card numbers are not stored in our database. During the donation process, we send your credit card number to an online processing terminal using a secure connection. The information passed back is an approval or denial for the credit card donation.

Donors who donated online with a valid email address will receive a tax receipt via email. Donors who mailed in a donation will receive their receipt by email if they gave a valid email address, or by mail if they did not give an email address but did give a valid mailing address.

Yes, players with a preference for designating their fundraising to a particular cancer site can allocate their fundraising when they complete their registration. 

The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre has achieved an international reputation as one of the top 5 cancer research centres in the world. Princess Margaret Cancer is a member of University Health Network (UHN). More information about UHN can be found at www.uhn.ca.

The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation (PMCF) at UHN raises funds for breakthrough research, exemplary teaching and compassionate care at The Princess Margaret. More information about the Foundation can be found at www.thepmcf.ca.

If conquering cancer is your cause, choosing the Priority Cancer Discovery Fund as your designated cancer fundraising site allows us to funnel your fundraising efforts to the most promising programs our researchers and clinicians are working on. These programs focus on discoveries and improving universal cancer care.

Thirty years ago, we didn’t really know what cancer was or how to effectively treat it. Today, thanks to research, we now know there are over 230 types of cancer, and that each type is very different from the others. Today, thanks to research, we have effective screening and treatment for many types of cancer. If Terry Fox were to be diagnosed today, he would be much less likely to lose his leg to cancer and he could live to continue the fight.

Research is costly and takes a very long time. For example, Herceptin, a drug that was developed at UCLA that benefits patients with one particular sub-type of breast cancer, took more than 10 years to develop and test, and at a cost of more than one billion dollars. More breakthroughs of this kind will be discovered, but we won’t get there without ongoing funding. The Princess Margaret has a world-class research team in place but we need funding, like that from Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer, to continue to invest in research.

Historically, Road Hockey has strived to return 65% or better, all budgets and financials are approved by the Board of Directors of the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation. This is higher than the guidelines set out by the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy, which suggests 50% as an acceptable guideline for events of this size. You can download last year’s annual report from www.thepmcf.ca.