The Oshawa Firewolves play against the Buffalo Bandits on April 18 to close out the Tucker Out Lymphoma Cup.
The annual lacrosse tournament is being held for the second time to honour a young Oshawa boy who loved the sport but was robbed of it far too soon.
Tucker Williams loved many sports, particularly lacrosse.
In January 2013, he was diagnosed with Burkitt Lymphoma, a type of cancer that affects the immune and digestive systems, according to Mayo Clinic. Symptoms often include loss of appetite, fatigue and stomach pain.
“The experience was pretty brutal,” said Dyson Williams, Oshawa FireWolves forward and Tucker’s older brother. “He was very hurt physically and sports were taken away from him.”
During the time Tucker was receiving treatment for his sickness, he had long days and weeks fighting to recover.
“He was battling for almost 12 full months. In and out of the hospital and he was in remission twice,” Dyson said.
After a long fight, Tucker lost his battle with the disease in December 2014.
This, however, marked the beginning of something new that would live on through the sport of lacrosse.
“In my dad’s last season with the Buffalo Bandits, in 2014, the team decided to raise awareness for childhood cancer, specifically lymphoma that year,” Dyson said.
Seeing his son in pain, Shawn Williams, former player for the Buffalo Bandits and current head coach for the Las Vegas Desert Dogs, decided to create the Tucker Out Lymphoma Night.
“My dad got to play in the inaugural one and my brother got to be there in the stands,” Dyson said. “And then every year since then, there’s been a Tucker Lymphoma game in Buffalo.”
That night, the team rallied around the Williams family in support of Tucker’s fight against lymphoma.
The following year, in 2015, Shawn transferred to the Las Vegas Desert Dogs, cementing both Las Vegas and Buffalo as the teams that would carry out the Lymphoma Night.
The night was held every year until 2024, when it became the Lymphoma Cup. That year, Dyson followed in his father’s footsteps into the National Lacrosse League, joining the Albany FireWolves.
The FireWolves joined the inaugural cup and brought it to Canada when the FireWolves moved to Oshawa last year.
Under the rules of the Lymphoma Cup, the teams each play each other for a total of three games. The Bandits currently have one win, the Desert Dogs have one win and one loss, while the FireWolves have one loss.
“We have a really special initiative and something that I really want to win [the Lymphoma Cup] in my career,” Dyson said.