Get your cleats out.
The deadline is nearing for soccer players and teams to sign up for the in Coquitlam.
Participants have until the end of the month to register for the adult or youth tournaments — or take part in the kids’ clinics — that will fill Percy Perry Stadium in Town Centre Park on Saturday, July 6, 2024.
Organizer Gloria Cuccione told the Tri-City News that the , a nonprofit started in 1997 and named after her late son, hopes to raise thousands of dollars for the centre it funds at the BC Children’s Hospital: the
Since the foundation began, it has brought in more than $26 million to help find a cure for cancer, a disease that Cuccione battled twice before he died in 2001 from complications following a car accident in Burnaby.
As in past years, Kick for a Cure will transform Percy Percy Stadium and its fields for the day with:
- a kids fun zone
- at the Dominic Mobilio Field (Michael Cuccione's late cousin)
- kids clinics with Alfredo Valente, director of football for the Metro-Ford Soccer Club, and Carl Valentine, the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Whitecaps FC club ambassador
- at the Ted Fridge Field
- adult matches
- at the main field
As well, there will be a beer garden, burgers, a BBQ, treats and prizes.
“It’s a big day and it’s fun for everybody,” Gloria Cuccione said. “We have kids interacting with kids — and helping kids at the same time.”
And, for the 12th year, the Canadian company Methanex, the world’s largest producer and supplier of methanol, plans to reach its $1-million mark in donations to the foundation; to date, they’ve given more than $800,000 to the cause.
Gloria Cuccione talked about the funding impact to the , of which the foundation has pledged $10.5 million toward CAR-T immunotherapy.
For childhood cancers, immunotherapy and CAR-T cell therapy are in their infancy stage; however, with research, medical scientists want to unlock their potential to treat more than just B-cell leukaemia and focus on solid cancers as well, as 60 per cent of childhood cancers are tumours — one of the least curable cancers for kids.
By having a lab at the hospital, Cuccione said, researchers can work side-by-side with doctors and specialists to fight the disease.
is one of three signature fundraisers for the Michael Cuccione Foundation each year.
The other two are:
- Golf for a Cure, which on May 24 brought in $140,000 from about 300 golfers at the Golden Ears Golf Club
- a foundation gala, which on Sept. 21 will have its 29th edition at the Italian Cultural Centre
Michael Cuccione was a rising star when his life was cut short 23 years ago — eight days after his 16th birthday.
An actor, singer and dancer, Michael Cuccione was best known as Jason “QT” McKnight in the MTV fictional boy band 2gether, which had a movie and television series, and opened for Britney Spears on tour.
For more details about Kick for a Cure on Saturday, July 6, visit the .
