Dubbed the Brave Little Fighter, 11-year-old Patrick Carr melted the heart of hockey superstar Shane Prince after seeing him play on the ice. 7 years before, Patrick Carr was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a type of cancer common in children aged five and under. He had gone through several rounds of chemotherapy, four critical surgeries, blood transfusion, radiations, and endless hospital visits. Despite all this, nothing could keep Patrick from playing hockey. He was so passionate and gave his utter best when he played.
The birth of Beach Hockey Classic
Moved by his relentless commitment and passion to play hockey, Shane organized Beach Hockey Classic, a tournament that would help raise money for Patrick’s hospital bill.
Jason Guck, one of the board members at Beach Hockey Classic, was also present at the event and made contributions in honor of Patrick Carr. He also started out a Go Fund Me account on behalf of Patrick Carr to get an even larger pool of people who would contribute.
This tournament is a labor of love from the hockey community, who came out to honor Patrick Carr. Sadly, Patrick Carr passed away five months prior to the tournament that was meant to raise funds for his treatment. This was truly a sad moment for the hockey community and everyone who knew about his condition.
Inspired by Patrick’s spirit to keep fighting, the event still went on in honor of his name. The proceeds from the event which was a total $17000 and the Go Fund Me account formed by Jason Guck– all went to the children undergoing treatment at Golisano Children’s Foundation, where Patrick was getting his treatment.
Debbie Carr, mother to Patrick Carr, now sits as one of the board members of cancer survivors. The board works to make this an annual event so that more children get the chance to afford their treatment. Beach Hockey Classic is now an annual sold-out event with over 200 people attending to win the Patrick Carr Memorial Sandley Cup. The tournament still continues to raise funds for children undergoing treatment, just like Patrick.
After the success seen from the 2015 tournament, Jason Guck together with the board formed another fundraiser called Cool As Ice skate-a-thon and 3v3 tournament. These events were also a huge hit, the tickets were completely sold out. In total, people in this even were able to raise over $16,000 to help the children undergoing treatment.
For more information on how you can get involved in this and other charitable endeavors, visit https://jasonguck.com/.