NLL Insider

Some real good stuff going down at the Air Canada Centre this weekend.

Outside of the Toronto Rock hosting the Rochester Knighthawks in a monster eastern clash, the night is also gonna play host to the franchise’s yearly Charity Night.

The Rock will be wearing their annual third jersey, which will be up for auction during the game and handed out to the winner after the match by the player that donned the sweater, with proceeds being donated to local charities.

As cool as that always is, this year we’re gonna get a chance to bid on another collector’s item, with those proceeds being donated to Les’s Fund - Lacrosse Fans Fighting Cancer.

First off, for those that don’t know about Les’s Fund, it’s a fan driven charity that raises money to fight cancer all in the name of former Toronto Rock Head Coach and lacrosse legend, Les Bartley. It’s a phenomenal cause that has raised an insane amount of money for an illness that has affected so many of us on some level. It seriously is just an amazing initiative that has done a lot of great work over the years all in the name of a man who’s impacted so many people in our sport and beyond. “Great” doesn’t even come close to describing it.

And those extra items up for bid? Two beauty keeper masks generously created and donated by OLIE Sports. The masks, which are pictured, were worn by Rock keeper Bob Watson and New York Titans tender Matt Vinc during the team’s pre-game warmup on March 14^th. They seriously are lacrosse artwork at its finest (checkout this link for even more shots of both masks).

The Rock mask features a chronology of the team’s championships, their 10th anniversary logo, and a rendering of Rock captain Jim Veltman and Bartley, maybe the two most instrumental guys in the team’s storied history and more importantly, two great friends on-and-off the court.

The cage Vino wore features a salute to Ontario lacrosse, with air-brushed interpretations of the St. Catharines A’s logo, the Minto Cup, and a prominent portrait of Bartley (a St. Kitt’s native), as well as the name of Les’s Fund, which has been helping heighten cancer awareness in the lacrosse community and raise money for local charities since 2004.

Both masks are top class pieces of work and when you factor in that your winning bid is gonna be donated to an unbelievably worthy cause, hopefully everyone interested in the masks will be as generous as they possibly can be on the night. Ditto on the Rock third sweaters too.

Also, even though the people behind the scenes on this project probably want nothing more than Les’ names mentioned, gotta not only thank but also congratulate Paul Stewart of the New York Titans, Keith Oldfield of OLIE Sports and Terri Workman at the Rock offices for putting this amazing project together.

And finally, although I’ve never met him in person, I want to send out a big thank you to a guy by the name of Jarrett Harris. For those that don’t know Jarrett, and the many that do, thanks Jarrett for all you’ve done man. You’ve touched a lot of people brother and know the man whose name we’ll be celebrating on Saturday night appreciates beyond word what you’ve done as well.

So guys, if you’re heading down to the ACC on Saturday night and can drop some coin on a beyond worthy cause, please do so. It’ll be appreciated by more people than you can even imagine.

Outside of supporting Les’s Fund, the Rock will also be donating proceeds to the Special Olympics, another great cause that the team supports every year.

Les’s Fund’s proceeds support local efforts such as the Wellspring Cancer Support Centre, Princess Margaret Hospital, and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation’s Ontario Chapter.

And for those not in TO this weekend, make sure to checkout www.sportcares.ca to find out how you can support some of these great causes.

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