Shrinebowl 2017 raises funds for Shriners Hospitals for Children® - Canada and spreads a new message: #CutTheBull

MONTREAL, Sept. 27, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - The Karnak Shriners are proud to announce that the 31st edition of Shrinebowl Canada will be held on September 30 at 2:00 p.m. at Concordia Stadium, located at 7200 Sherbrooke Street West in Montreal. This year's match pits the Concordia University Stingers against the Vert & Or of the Université de Sherbrooke. The public is invited to attend this annual family event whose proceeds will be donated to Shriners Hospitals for Children ? Canada.  Special Shrinebowl tickets are sold for $10 at the hospital until this Friday at 5 pm.

Organized by the Karnak Shriners, Quebec, the Shrinebowl is a celebration and a serious football game, but also a tradition not to be missed. Since 1987, this charity event has raised close to $1 million for the hospital and for care offered to youngsters.

For the 2017 edition, the honorary chairman of the game, Georges Laraque, a former Canadiens player and radio host at 91.9 Sports, Mathieu Lecompte head coach of the Vert & Or at the Université de Sherbrooke, and Mickey Donovan, head football coach of Concordia University Stingers as well as their players and the mascots of both teams unite in communicating a strong message: #CutTheBull.

The #CutTheBull campaign
Youth with limitations are twice as likely to experience bullying at school or elsewhere. This fall Shriners Hospitals for Children ? Canada will visit schools in Quebec and other provinces to present testimonials from patients who have suffered from this destructive phenomenon. The organizers and teams of the Shrinebowl 2017 agreed enthusiastically to join in this campaign against bullying and take advantage of the inter-university match to get the message across.

The king and the queen
Two patients from Shriners Hospitals for Children ? Canada, Nia, aged 12, and Broden, 11, were crowned Queen and King of Shrinebowl Canada 2017. Following the press conference players, coaches and the King and the Queen paid a visit to hospitalized children.

Nia is hemiplegic, paralyzed on the right side. She has been treated at the hospital since the age of one, shortly after her arrival in Canada. Before she was referred to Shriners Hospitals for Children ? Canada her parents were told that she would never walk. Nia has spent a lot of time in the hospital over the past eleven years but it has been worth it. Not only does she walk almost perfectly, but she sings and is a professional actress. This year, she is the spokesperson for the #CutTheBull campaign of Shriners Hospitals for Children ? Canada because she has been bullied at school and does not want other kids to have to live through the same thing.

Broden has undergone several procedures not far from home to treat clubfoot. Unfortunately his deformity is recurrent and interventions have only had short-term success. As a result, Broden was referred to Reggie Hamdy, MD, and Chief Medical Officer at Shriners Hospitals for Children ? Canada. Broden has undergone an operation this summer and will begin an intense rehabilitation in coming weeks. When he has recovered the other leg will be corrected in a second phase of treatment.

About Shriners Hospitals for Children ? Canada
Established in Montreal in 1925, Shriners Hospitals for Children ? Canada is the only Canadian facility in the Shriners 22-hospital network. A bilingual hospital, it offers short-term, ultra-specialized orthopedic care to children in Canada, the United States and around the world. Infants, children and young adults with orthopedic and neuromuscular problems such as scoliosis, osteogenesis imperfecta, clubfoot, hip dysplasia or cerebral palsy benefit from the expertise of our medical teams in terms of treatment and rehabilitation.

Affiliated with McGill University, the hospital has a Pediatric Simulation Center and a Motion Analysis Center to stimulate excellence and innovation in care, teaching and research. Physicians, residents and health professionals benefit from our facility on the Glen site to further their training and experience. In addition to providing an environment of patient- and family-centered care, the hospital, through telemedicine, community clinics and satellite clinics, is present in communities across Canada. Recognized as an institution that promotes health, Shriners Hospitals for Children ? Canada has been helping children reach their full potential for over 90 years.

SOURCE Shriners Hospitals For Children