We have first-time champions in both the competitive and recreational sections of Kicking Cancer’s Butt 2018!
Of course, the most important news is that over $12,000 was raised for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation, taking the total donated over the 9 years of the tournament to over $101,000, but we also had some exciting games taking place on field.

Competitive Section

Armee Rouge were going for a third consecutive competitive title and moved ominously into the final with a 2-0 victory over  Los Galacticos (the only team with a 100% record at that point). Few would have bet against them in the final, especially when $mashville, who held them to a 2-2 draw in the group section, fell to Make Football Great Again in the other semi-final. However, Make Football Great Again had other ideas, drawing first blood before doubling their lead at around the halfway point. With the next goal absolutely crucial, both sides had chances before Make Football Great Again smashed home a long range effort to take a 3-0 lead. The defending champions weren’t quite done yet, pulling one back almost immediately with a rocket of their own, but there were no further goals and Make Football Great Again were crowned champions for 2019.

Recreational Section

Over on the recreational side of things, we had some great stories from some of our tournament stalwarts:

• Dynamo Winfund were searching for their first win in 9 tournaments and broke through with not only a win, but also a quarter final appearance.
• I’ll Have Another have been in the top two fundraisers in each of the last three tournaments and they too made a breakthrough on the field, also reaching the quarter-finals.
• And last but not least, Team Grayson broke their own record for the most donated by a single team, managed to win their group and came within a penalty shoot-out of going all the way to the semi-finals.

However, in the end it was another long-term tournament participant, the Dirty Birds who grabbed the glory by going one better than last year (where they lost to Legion Honey Garlic). They claimed the title with a 3-1 win over Making Football Great Again‘s recreational team who had taken out the defending champions in the semi-final.
Kicking Cancer’s Butt is over for another year and we’re already looking forward to Kicking Cancer’s Butt 10 (or X if we want to get flashy with the naming!). If you are looking to get on the field before then, watch out for our summer league registration opening in the next week and a big announcement about an exciting new venue for your footy. Details will appear on the Footy Sevens website.