Pitching in: Fundraising for Princess Margaret Hospital one goal at a time

John Brezina has raised $330,000 for Toronto’s Princess Margaret Hospital through an annual road hockey tournament. Mr. Brezina is pictured in the back row, third from the right, in Vaughan, Ont, on Oct. 3.Josh Nezon Photography/Supplied

The organizer: John Brezina

The pitch: Raising $330,000 and climbing

The cause: Toronto’s Princess Margaret Hospital

Like a lot of Canadian kids, John Brezina grew up playing hockey on the street outside his home. He loved the game so much he organized a road hockey league while studying at the University of Toronto and started a lunchtime game after joining Toronto-based technology company Vertafore Canada where he still works.

In 2010, Mr. Brezina was driving down the Don Valley Parkway when he noticed a billboard advertising a day-long, three-on-three ball hockey tournament to raise money for the Princess Margaret Hospital. Mr. Brezina wasn’t familiar with the hospital but he loved the idea of entering a big tournament. “I was sold from that day forward,” he said.

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He quickly organized a team from work and they raised around $27,000. He’s been playing in the tournament ever since.

In 2018, Mr. Brezina began having breathing problems. He couldn’t run very hard and tired easily during games. After playing in the tournament, he went to see his doctor who referred him to Princess Margaret. He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a rare form of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow.

Mr. Brezina underwent months of chemotherapy at the hospital and had a stem cell transplant to rebuild his immune system. He was still able to participate in the 2019 road hockey tournament and returned to work in 2020.

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Mr. Brezina, 59, has fully recovered and his last cancer treatment was more than seven years ago. “I’m considered cured,” he said. “I have about as much chance of dying of leukemia as the general population.”

He played in this year’s tournament last weekend. The team’s composition has varied over the years, but Mr. Brezina has remained a constant. In total, he has raised $330,000 for the hospital.

“This has gone from a hobby to a passion of supporting this incredible hospital,” he said. If it wasn’t for road hockey, he added, it might have taken much longer his cancer to be diagnosed. “I used to say ‘I live for road hockey.’ Now I say ‘I live because road hockey.’”