With fun the name of the game, Mayor Paul Lefebvre capped Thursday’s charity basketball match by declaring it a tied affair, invoking a lesser-known mayoral power.
The Joes vs Pros game at the Sudbury Community Arena featured several “celebrity” players, including business people, radio personalities and others known in the community, who faced off against the Sudbury Five on the court.
Sprinkled throughout the event were various contests and entertainers to keep the crowd of approximately 2,500 people riled up.
“It was good to see right around Christmas time all the people come together for children's charities,” Social Rise owner Connor LaRocque told Sudbury.com following the event. “We haven’t seen an event like this in a few years.”
Social Rise hosted the event alongside Active Therapy and Tristan Ritchie Realtor, in partnership with the Sudbury Five.
It raised money for the Northern Ontario Families of Children with Cancer, Sudbury Manitoulin Children’s Foundation, The Human League Association, NEO Kids Foundation and United Way.
LaRocque said the haven’t tallied up an estimate of how much has been raised yet, but would advertise it on their Facebook page as soon as they know, ast late as Monday.
“It looks like we’ll be able to do a really good split between the five charities,” he said.
Thursday’s game also offered the community a reintroduction to the Sudbury Five, whose general manager and head coach, Logan Stutz, told Sudbury.com the informal charity game served as notice that “Basketball’s back” in Sudbury.
“It was a great way to kick off our season being back in Sudbury, and I think the end of the year for a lot of people in Sudbury,” he said.
“I’ve got guys wanting to be in the community, who are in it for the right reasons and want to bring a championship to Sudbury.”
The Sudbury Five season begins with two back-to-back home games at the Sudbury Community Arena on Jan. 7 and 8, with two games against the Oakland County Pharaohs. Click here for the team’s schedule.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
