What a fantastic and HOT day.  The troops came again and played in an amazingly great spirit and it was a wonderful welcome to Tamatoa to the event.  They were a lot of fun and a very welcome addition to our returning teams Got the Runs, Team High Viz, P4AC (our very own team) and Hutchies Hunnies.  They have already stated they will back next year!  Also returning this year and committing to next year is the amazing Rod Chiapello from McDonalds Bracken Ridge who put on an amazing lunch for the all the competitors.  He is an incredibly kind gentleman and the food he supplied was healthy and delicious.  We ask that you support our supporters as they support us – because without them we would be lost, so next time you are out Bracken Ridge way, please call in and say hi to Rod and his crew.

To Brisbane Softball Association, thank you so much for your continued support in providing the grounds, the facilities and doing whatever you can to make our day a success.  My favourite softball association ever

I have already mentioned them, but to the competitors,  you are amazing!  Every year you play in such hot conditions but you never complain.  You come, you pay to play and always donate the offered prize money back to our charity which is so incredibly gracious of you!  At this time I am waiting on some final figures, but we have raised around $3000 this event, bringing us soooo close to having raised $200,000 for cancer research.

Check out some photos from the day by clicking here.

Play for a Cure!

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WOW, can you believe this will be our 7th annual event?!  We can’t thank the long time supporters enough, because without you we could not be holding this event, which is such a fun day!

So lock it in your calendar! 18th Feb, 2018 – it’s our day!

Team entry fee remains $500. Lunch burger and drink provided. Maximum numbers for a team is 12 and 4 women must be on the field at all times.  No experience, or gear required.  It’s all about having some fun for a good cause.

If you want to register or learn more, click on the links below.  To register, you must do so by 4th February, 2018.  Any questions, please contact Leigh at leigh@playforacure.com.au

Team Registration Form

Team List

Information

Rules.  There will be some changes as decided in the team manager meeting on the morning and these will be communicated to each team prior to commencement of play (eg, no walks, 2 women in the infield (not including catcher).

The post Slowpitch – Lucky No. 7 appeared first on Play for a Cure Foundation.

2016/17 was our best year yet for fundraising and already we can see that the 2017/18 will be even better.

There are so many people to thank for making everything we do a possibility, so you are invited to read our annual report by clicking here.

To read our financial report for Play for a Cure Foundation click here.

For Play for a Cure Personal Foundation click here (please note, there was no activity on this Foundation for the financial year.

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The post Financials – 2016/17 appeared first on Play for a Cure Foundation.

Who is Richard Hancock?

I am 39 years old, married with two boys 10 and 9, as well as I have a 19 year old son (Cody) and 16 year old Daughter (Rianna) from previous relationships. I grew up in Woomera, South Australia. I grew up in your typical broken home.  My Mum worked two jobs to feed myself and my brother and I grew up quickly to help where I could. I also spent time in the USA living with my Grandparents finishing school and working. Before meeting my wife I was a typical lazy guy who besides work really was content floating through life. I strongly believe that meeting my wife, Stevi-lee really saved my life. Since we have been married we have had two awesome boys, Patrick and Kayden – they just make me appreciate everything daily and continuously bring a smile to my face. Since their birth I have quit smoking, have strived to improve my health and myself, and joined the Defence Force. My life has not been easy by any stretch, nor has it been hard. All of my struggles as a younger child really prepared me for being a father and a husband who constantly tries to have a house full of laughter and smiles.

What is he doing?

My plan is to compete a 58km Ultra marathon trail run, thanks to my wife, which by the way is the real hero (she went from 100+ kgs to 78kgs in 6 months!!).  Anyway with her diet she runs every weekend and with that she follows a lot of running sites and she has recently been competing in different events. A few months ago she dared me to compete in a 26km trail run with Trail Runners SA. Lucky for me with my job I do keep myself somewhat fit, so I agreed. Now I wouldn’t say I’ve been bitten by the bug but I do enjoy challenging myself and pushing everything to the limits. After the 26kms I have received an email announcing a 58km Five Peaks Ultra Marathon, which will be from Athelstone to Belair NP via Black Hill, Rocky Hill, Norton Summit, Mt Lofty and Brown Hill, and being ran on Saturday at 6am, 14 April 2018.

Why did you choose Play for a Cure Foundation?

Whilst I was discussing my insane decision with my wife it occurred to me that my previous run I really didn’t do it for anything, just my own challenge. So I decided I would pick a cause to do such a big run for, not only will it be great to donate to a great cause but it will also give me added motivation to get through it. There are numerous reasons why I chose “Play for a Cure” and to be honest before my competing in the ADF Softball Nationals I had never heard of your cause.  At the Nationals during the presentations I witnessed something much greater than just a charity that takes donations for research for a cure for cancer. What I saw was a small group that has obviously been affected by cancer and is driven to support research teams trying to find a cure. I didn’t see suits, or hands out left right and centre, I saw tears and humility. Like most I have seen my fair share of fights, my Grandma was diagnosed with Breast Cancer at 18, since then she has also battled Cervical cancer, and other forms. Whilst living with them I witnessed chemo at its worst and still watched this strong lady battle through it. At 72 she is still with us, and while I’m sure her body is riddled she still fights on, if you met her you wouldn’t even know she was fighting. Her mum had Breast Cancer, and one of her sisters had cervical cancer. 5 years ago we lost a very close family friend to bone cancer which was very aggressive and we lost him in a matter of weeks. Also just recently we lost another close family friend to prostate cancer which also was very quick.

It will be my absolute honour to do this run for “Play for a Cure” and I hope the generosity of people really shines through and we can get in some donations.  If you would like to donate, anything above $2 is tax deductible and you can make it by clicking here (and feel free to download the picture of my family and I and put it on your fridge while I do the marathon)

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Earlier this year we surpassed our goal of $180,000 raised with all profits being donated towards the cause.

We’ve set a new target and, with your help, we want to raise $200,000 by the end of 2017. We’re a small, locally-run charity and we’re so honoured to have positively influenced the lives of those affected by cancer by contributing to cancer researchers in their quest to find a cure.

Please help us celebrate our 7th birthday by sharing this post or by making a small donation through our site by clicking here… every little bit makes a difference!

The post We are 7 years old! appeared first on Play for a Cure Foundation.

4 time Olympian, and recently inducted into the World Softball Hall of Fame, Melanie Roche may have to stop the ‘go lightly on the boys’ attitude and come out firing!  With the bat of Stacey Porter (Australian Captain and arguable the world’s best batter) and those of many other softball legends, P4AC is calling the game – the ladies have it……maybe   We will only find out around 2pm on the 25th. 

One spot is open to the public to play on each team, but if you want to play, you need to bid – click here to place your bid!

We don’t charge you to enter, so we ask that you dig deep when we ask for a gold coin donation, buy some raffle tickets and eat and drink all you can whilst at the Brisbane Softball Association.

Again we honour Jannita Dunn (Gordy’s sister) and Deb McColm (Graham’s wife (Graham is a P4AC board member)) and all those that have fought the battle and to those that are currently fighting the fight of their lives.  Wear some yellow on the day and let’s make the 25th a bright and happy and successful day.  We can’t wait to see you all!

The post Yellow Socks Softball Challenge is back! appeared first on Play for a Cure Foundation.

It was another beautiful night at the Marquee Room at the Victoria Park Golf Complex and over 200 supporters turned up wearing all, or some, blue to support our theme of the night – blue for Prostate cancer.  Our guests were serenaded by our favourite songstress Taylor Wilton, the superb Patty Welsh, our sporting stars Brad Thorn, Melanie Roche & Gabi Simpson, the very intelligent and amazing Dr Pattison and the rocking band Vintage.  Thank you to our special guests, you helped make the night so memorable.

The supporters were in full voice when it came to the auction and the friendly rivalry between Table 10 and 18 certainly helped our cause. 

There are always so many people to thank – thank you to Shane of Allmet Engineering  – our Silver sponsor (for the 3rd year running), to Carrie and Rosie’s Early Learning Centre, Alison and Tony of Pinball Warehouse Australia and Adele of Hello World Travel Wynnum.  

All those that helped make our night such a success can be found by clicking on this link – we think you’re amazing, our supporters and donors, and we thank you very much!

But most of all we thank you, our supporters, because without you we could not raise these funds for cancer research!  The research is critical so we thank you for your continued support.  

Our night is locked in for the 20th October, 2018, so we hope you can start planning now – there is nothing like being organised.

The post Over $19,500 raised for Prostate Cancer research appeared first on Play for a Cure Foundation.

• 2 course 5 star meal (entree and main)
• 4 hour premium drinks
• Cheese station
• Brad Thorn, Melanie Roche, Dr Pattison and Patty Welsh
• Vintage and Taylor Wilton (live music)
• and a fun fun night while raising funds for cancer research

We also understand that some of the times dates clash, but you still want to support us.  Well you can, you can buy your tickets here for our ‘on the night’ raffle but don’t have to be present. Simply purchase your tickets online and we will send you a copy of your tickets and if you win, we will call you on the night to arrange for you to collect your goods.  Yes it is that simple

With the amazing prizes we have up for offer you want to buy today. Just $2 for one, or $10 for 6 and you could win one, or more, of the following amazing prizes.  Click on the links to learn more about our donors (to whom we are eternally grateful).  To purchase the tickets go right to the bottom of this page and you can checkout your purchase.  We will then email you to ask your preferred way to pay (direct deposit or credit card (2% surcharge for credit card purchases)).

Thank you in advance.

Pinball Warehouse Valued at $1750 with 60 games including Frogger, Pacman, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Galaga, 1942, Ladybug, Scramble and Bomb Jack to name a few. Thank you to Alison and Tony from Pinball Warehouse for your incredible donation.
Icy Table Play a game, cool a drink and it is fully portable. Just in time for Summer. Thank you Icy Table.
Vittoria Coffee Pod Machine and 6 Latte glasses Local coffee at its best. You can almost smell the coffee now. Thank you to Jason and Vittoria.
Vittoria Hamper A beautiful hamper with lots of delicious goodies. Thanks again to Jason and Vittoria.
Pamper yourself, because everybody does deserve to be spoilt! Thanks to Melanie and Beauty Emergency
$250 C&L Tool Voucher Who doesn't love a tool! Thank you Geoff and C&L Tools.
Find your Essence Sky Candle Pack Light a candle and let your senses float. Thank you Julie and Find your Essence Soy Candles.
Everybody deserves to feel beautiful, inside and out! $150 outfit from Intimo will make you feel beautiful on the outside! Thank you to Leigh from Intimo. Contact Leigh at leigh.martyn@intimo.com.au
Make your skin glow with Rodan and Fields. Thanks to Brooke from Rodan and Fields.
Lindt Chocolate Pack Thank you to Tina and Lindt Chocolates

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When events like this happen, there are many to thank and the first person is Cindy Wann.  Cindy is the Sydney pocket rocket who asked us to bring our Yellow Socks game to Sydney upon the passing of her best friend Tracey Dakin, because she wanted to specifically raise funds for brain cancer research.   Cindy and her daughters Stacey and Brooke captained 2 of the 3 teams this year, along with Brett Kimmorley who captained the 3rd team.  Sadly Brett’s wife Sharnie passed away this year to brain cancer and the winner’s trophy has been dedicated to these 2 ladies and is known as the Sharnie Kimmorley – Tracey Dakin Memorial Trophy.

The NRL players were outside of their comfort zone, not unlike a cancer patient, but they showed why they excel on the football field and were absolute naturals on the diamond, making for some great games and lots of fun.

The winners in our 2nd year were the team making their debut – Team Dakin – captained by Brooke McManus – well done team! 

Thank you to Brett for promoting the day and bringing along the NRL stars (Chad Townsend, Blake Austin, Marty Taupau, Bryson Goodwin, Dave Furner, Steve Turner and John Skandalis) and thank you to Stacey & Brooke and their fellow softballers for taking the time to play and provide such great entertainment (and for all the donated sporting memorabilia).  Thanks to our Blues and thank you to Cathy Kerr and NSW Softball for providing us an Olympic stadium to play in – WOW.  Thank you to all the volunteers who helped set up and manned stations and to all those that donated the amazing auction items.   As you can imagine there are always so many people that make the day possible and we are so grateful to them all.  And of course, THANK YOU to the supporters who came out, dug deep and got to enjoy the day along with the rest of us.  Without you, we couldn’t do what we do!

A special shout out to Sam Alvaro of McDonalds Waitara Alvaro Restaurants and Patricia Russo of McDonalds Blacktown – they both donated an amazing $1000 each to the fundraiser.  It was a real pleasure meeting Michelle and her family and we are extremely grateful for their generosity.

Thanks too to Josh Morris.  He played last year but couldn’t make this year so donated $500 in lieu of playing – awesome!

To see all the photos, and a Channel 7 news video of the day, visit our Facebook Page by clicking here. 

Whilte there, like our Facebook page and stay tuned because we will be back and we want to see more and more every year come out and enjoy a great day whilst raising funds for brain cancer research. 

PLAY FOR A CURE!

The post NRL stars are ‘Naturals’ appeared first on Play for a Cure Foundation.

OUR EMCEE

None other than Patty Welsh! 

Since joining Channel 7 News in Brisbane back in 1975, Pat Welsh has become one of Australia’s top sports journalists and commentators. Still with Channel 7 some 30 years later, Pat is currently the Sports Editor.

In between, Pat has travelled widely throughout Europe, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States for the network and covered several tours across a variety of codes.

His extensive experience includes Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, cricket, rugby league, rugby union, AFL, horse racing and golfing commentaries.

In fact, Pat Welsh has commentated at eight Olympic Games so far, one of the few people to have done so. He was part of the Seven team at the Barcelona and Atlanta Olympic Games, introduced the bobsleigh and luge events at the Winter Olympic Games in Nagano in 1998 and Salt Lake City in 2002 and reported trackside at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. In 2004 Pat was again poolside and trackside in Athens and in 2006, reported from the Winter Olympic Games in Turin, followed by the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Pat has also provided 25 years of golf telecasts, both in Australia & internationally, covering the US Open and British Open golf tournaments and the President’s Cup for Seven Sport. A familiar face at golfing tournaments, Pat has earned the nickname ‘Whispering’ Pat Welsh for his hushed, on-course style.

With these remarkable experiences behind him, Pat Welsh has a wealth of stories and insights from around the world to share with audiences.

GUEST RESEARCH SPEAKER

Dr David Pattison is a dual trained nuclear medicine physician and endocrinologist in the Department of Nuclear Medicine & Specialised PET Services at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. He studied at the University of Melbourne and completed specialty training at The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Austin Health and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He has a keen interest in both the molecular imaging and management of endocrine malignancies, including thyroid cancer and neuroendocrine tumours, and is actively involved in the peptide receptor radionuclide therapy program. Dr Pattison’s research interests are at the intersection of endocrinology and nuclear medicine, where he continues to build his research profile as a lead author on several publications and invited speaker at national and international meetings.  

David will show us his research and explain to us in layman terms his successes and why research is theabsolute key to finding a cure for cancer.

SPORT STARS

Bradley  ‘Brad’ Thorn  is a rugby union coach, and former rugby league and rugby union player. Born in New Zealand, he represented Australia in rugby league, and New Zealand in rugby union over a very long career. He is currently an assistant coach for the Queensland Reds and the head coach of Queensland Country.

A lock, Thorn became one of the most successful rugby union players and was the first player to win a World Cup, a Super Rugby title and the Heineken Cup, despite only moving to the sport in his mid-twenties.

Before moving to union, he played rugby league for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League competition, for a total of ten seasons, and represented Queensland in the State of Origin series. His preferred position in rugby league was in the second-row, though he was equally effective as a prop. In 2000 Thorn was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to Australia’s international standing in rugby league.

Brad has achieved all you could possibly achieve in his chosen sports and we can’t wait to hear his stories.

Melanie Roche is a softball pitcher best known for her angular velocity and her competitive nature with a passion 2nd to none. She has won a bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics and 2000 Summer Olympics, a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics along with a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Participating in 4 Olympic Games and winning 4 Olympic Medals is an Australian Olympic Record. Roche was a two-time First Team All-American at Oklahoma State University, where she played from 1990-1993. While in college, Roche tallied 774 strikeouts in 658-2/3 innings, a ratio that is tied for 28th all-time. She was inducted into the OSU Hall of Honor on September 2, 2011.

Melanie played many years in the professional Japanese league and currently is employed as a pitching coach by SG Holdings ‘Galaxy Stars’ dividing her time between Japan and Brisbane, where she now resides.

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So many people have donated prizes to ensure our multi-draw raffle was our major fundraiser for the weekend, so thank you again to:

Madison Sport (won by Jeremy Trute);

Icy Table (won by Rhegan Rohweder);

Bunnings (won by Adele Watson);

Stacey Porter (won by Leanne Beasant);

Softball Queensland (won by Susie Waller);

Intimo (won by Jane Churchill);

Tupperware by Billie (won by Clare O’Driscoll);

5^th Avenue Jewellery (won by Tony Chave);

Find your essence Soy Candles (won by Kelly McKellar-Nathan);

Princess Charlotte Seafood (won by Belinda Lea);

4 Events (won by Karyn Foxover); and

Gelatissimo Orion Springfield (won by Adele Watson).

Even though our raffle is our major fundraiser, there are teams and individuals who donate directly to P4AC instead of paying for gifts to give to the opposition.  We are so grateful to:

Toowoomba Warriors, who started it all off and who has donated every year that P4AC has played;

Sydney Slayers;

Playerz;

Ragin Pitches;

Dodgers; and

to Carrie Rose and Leigh McCarthy your individual donations were incredibly generous.

We truly appreciate all of your support and generosity.

The best news from the weekend is that we raised over $3,500, which means we have now raised over $150,000 since we were founded.  This is an amazing result which is only possible because of our many supporters.  To each and every one of you, we thank you.

Congratulations too to our mighty Play for a Cure Masters team.  A great bunch of ladies who, in their prime, played with and against each other and became the greatest of friends who use this one weekend in August, to get together to  catch up, have some fun while playing a sport they all love, but more importantly come together as ONE team to raise some funds for charity.  Thanks to our off-field crew too – Jason Nathan (Frecks), Sheridan Darroch and our manager Amanda King.

A sterling result with a win in the grand final.  We looked sharp in our new uniforms (a massive thank you to Kombat Custom Clothing) and we are thrilled to know that Rose Darroch from KR Sports photos was there to capture all the moments (click here to check them out).

A great weekend for the charity and the team and last but not least, we have the best cheer squad in the world.

Thank you again for all of your support, and we will be sure to see you all again next year.

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