Scott MacDonald is remembered as a boy who loved football.
In honour of the former Voyageur who lost his battle to cancer in 2010, the local football community comes together every year to raise money for cancer research. A small portion of the proceeds are also placed in the Voyageur Scholarship Fund.
On Saturday, Sept. 21, Walsh Field was a sea of support as the Renegades, Bandits, and Voyageurs took to the field for the 10th annual Scott MacDonald Memorial Tournament.
“It’s not a hardship to come to the games,” expressed Bernie MacDonald, Scott’s dad. “It’s enlightening to be honest, and it makes me feel good. It’s a great way to honour him, and he’d be extremely proud if he was here.”
Scott’s mom, Susan MacDonald, thinks her son would have been humbled by the yearly event.
“When he went to high school, he was sitting eating lunch and Mr. Walsh walked by. He stopped, came back, and said, ‘who are you? do you play football?’ Scott said, ‘no,’ and Mr. Walsh said, ‘you’re playing football now,’” she recalled. “Scott absolutely loved it. For him, I think it was the first time he really enjoyed being part of a team and he was excellent at it.”
In addition to the silent auction, players accepted pledges for shaving their heads during the halftimes of each game.
Players had the option to either lose their locks or dye them pink. Voyageurs’ player John Neumann chose to do both, and raised over $300.
“I wanted to raise more awareness, and hopefully see if I can get a little bit more money raised.”
A few local celebrities, including MD of Bonnyville Reeve Greg Sawchuk and Voyageurs game day announcer Byron Johnson, also got into the spirit by having their hair dyed pink.
The head shaves alone brought-in more than $7,200 this year. The silent auction saw $7,745 in donations, with this year’s fundraising total reaching upwards of $15,000.
Teri Prevost, head coordinator for the memorial, said keeping the funds in the community and honouring Scott’s wishes was an important aspect of the day.
“When he was going through his treatments in the cancer clinic, what he was worried about were the other kids in there. He was watching these little guys have nothing to do, and that’s all he could think about was wanting to give them something to make their day brighter.”
What started as a few players coming together to honour their friend, has turned into an annual tournament that has people coming from all over to participate.
“It’s a big deal after 10 years that this is still running,” Bernie noted. “I thought it would eventually die out, but it keeps going and getting bigger each year.”
For Susan, the tournament’s a bittersweet day.
“I start getting worked up about Tuesday, and then the drive out is hard because you’re coming to a place you don’t live anymore and yet the community and the parent league comes together and they honour our son.”
