The Lakeland College Rustlers womens basketball team is excited to partner up with five local non-profits to raise money for mental health initiatives in the Border City, which includes an evening with former NHL goaltender Clint Malarchuk. Supplied Photo
After two years of ups, downs, and a whole lot of uncertainty, the Lakeland College Rustlers womens basketball team is wrapping its season with an evening devoted to mental health advocation with special guest Clint Malarchuk, sponsored by the Lloydminster Region Health Foundation’s mental health initiative Project Sunrise.
On April 3, after returning from the CCAA national basketball championships in Nanaimo, B.C., the Rustlers will be running for mental health.
The team will be running laps around Bud Miller All Seasons Park from 9 a.m. to noon and are accepting pledges for each kilometre they run.
The funds they raise will be going back into local mental health initiatives through non-profits such as Residents in Recovery, the Libbie Young Centre, the Men’s Shelter, the Thorpe Recovery Centre and the Interval Home Society.
The Rustlers womens basketball team has faced its fair share of adversity since the 2020 national championships were cancelled.
Not only did the team recognize that many of the players and coaching staff were experiencing mental health issues, but they faced them head-on and worked to try to overcome those struggles.
Their story is a familiar one for many, but when it pertains to high-calibre athletes, Malarchuk seemed like the perfect fit.
If Malarchuk’s name is ringing any bells, it’s probably because he’s known as the former NHL goaltender whose throat was cut by a skate blade during a game in 1989 while he was playing for the Buffalo Sabres, severing his jugular vein.
Malarchuk lost 1.5 litres of blood and a total of 300 stitches were required to close the six-inch wound. Malarchuk was back on the ice 10 days later.
He received a standing ovation upon his return to the game but did not receive any form of counselling. Twenty years after almost losing his life on the ice and going through his own, very real struggles with mental health, Malarchuk was diagnosed with PTSD and is now advocating for others so they don’t suffer in silence.
If you’d like to support the Rustlers run, email chris.king@lakelandcollege.ca, or e-transfer funds to the same email.
The entire community is encouraged to get on board and is welcome to participate. Tickets for an evening with Clink Malarchuk are only $30 and are available on eventbrite.
For corporate tables and more info contact Tricia Hunter at tricia.hunter@bpcdirectional.com.
