Vancouver Bandits basketball team to honour Terry Fox with commemorative jerseys on Canada Day

The Vancouver Bandits professional basketball team has unveiled special edition jerseys for players to wear in a nationally televised game on Canada Day.

The slick new threads will pay tribute to Canadian icon and national hero Terry Fox.

Fox’s attempt to run across the country after losing a leg to cancer has inspired people across the globe to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to cancer research.

But before the Marathon of Hope, his first athletic passion was basketball.

Despite being cut from the team in Grade 8, Fox worked hard to improve his game and it payed off.

“He didn’t quit. By the time he got to Grade 10 he was one of the starting players and the captain of the team,” said his brother Fred Fox. “And that continued, even on to Simon Fraser University as a walk on athlete, and he loved the game.”

SFU has retired the number four jersey, the number Fox wore while playing for the school.

“There’s the Marathon of Hope but Terry was a multi-sport athlete. We thought with a jersey dedicated in his name we could honour the legend of Terry and bring new light to his legacy as well,” said Andrew Savory, the Bandits’ vice-president of business operations.

The jerseys contain a number of details linked to the Marathon of Hope, including the names of every city, town and park Fox ran through.

“And the route through the maritime provinces, Quebec, Ontario…and then being forced to stop in Thunder Bay,” Fred Fox said as he traced a squiggly line on the back of the jersey.

The jerseys will be available at Bandits’ team store at the Langley Event Centre where the team plays its home games.

Partial proceeds will be donated to the Terry Fox Foundation.

The Canada Day game against the Niagara River Lions will be broadcast live from coast-to-coast on TSN, providing even more exposure for the jersey and the cause.

“Not only is Terry going to get recognized but we are continuing Terry’s mission of raising money for cancer research so one day the suffering that cancer causes will end,” said Fred Fox.

Forty-four years after the Marathon of Hope, Fox’s legacy continues to grow and inspire.