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Hockey Fights Cancer
Hockey Fights Cancer is an annual fundraising event in the month of February where Southside Ice Arena in Byron Center and Fox Motors Hockey Club partner with the Van Andel Institute Purple Community to come together and raise money for a cure to cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
overview
This year's event will take place at Southside Ice Arena the weekend of February 20-22, 2026! We are celebrating our 10th year! Each year our event is a weekend in February; however, we do fundraise the entire month of February! We have a fundraising page that accepts donations, and we also have a silent auction located in the lobby all weekend long to place bids on! Starting the weekend we have TWO ALL STAR games; the weekend starts with the All Stars vs the GIRLS 16U AAA team. We wrap the event with our ALL STAR GAME which is on Sunday where former pro players and some of our Fox hockey coaches play our 16O Midget Major tier 1 travel team. These games are open to the public and anyone can attend at no cost. This is such a fun game to watch each year, come join us!
Who is Fox Motors Hockey Club?
Fox Motors Hockey is a 3 tier hockey club in Byron Center Michigan - home to House Hockey, Tier 2 travel, and Tier 1 AAA travel teams for both boys and girls. We have over 30 teams, and 485 players total this season in our program!
What happens during the weekend?
Each of our teams play a special hockey fights cancer game where they recognize people in their lives who have been affected by cancer. They have special jerseys with the names of those they are skating for in honor or in memory. During our weekend event, we honor lost lives, support those fighting cancer, and raise money for a cure! Each team has a fundraising page where we raise money for a cure through Van Andel Institute. Each team also create auction baskets that are in our lobby to raise money over the weekend. We are impressed every year with the generosity of each team and their dedication to this event!
How do you fundraise?
2026 HFC Sponsors
Emma Corneillie
In the year of 2024, it was a particularly impactful year for our organization as we lost a player to cancer, Emma Corneillie, from the 12U Girls Red team earlier this fall. Emma Corneillie was a player on our 12U Girls Red team during the 21/22 and 22/23 seasons. Her coach was Mike Slobodnik. She started playing in California with the San Jose Sharks and her family moved to Michigan to be closer to family in the 2021 season. Sadly, she was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in October of 2022. She underwent Chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, but her cancer was very aggressive. She passed away in October of 2023, one year later, at the age of 13.
Her best friend and fellow teammate Julia, describes Emma as fun to be around and someone who found the good in everything. She was a sweet and fun loving girl. Her friends say she loved her brother, her friends, Taylor Swift, doing Tik Tok dances, going to Sephora, Squishmallows, beating everyone at Wii volleyball, ordering packages and Starbucks. She was also very creative and good at art. She loved to express that when doing nails. She also designed the flower you see on our Hockey Fights Cancer jerseys and Emma Strong Shirts.
A funny memory her team shared was that during a game, Coach Slobo yelled for her to "Chip the Puck" and she stopped and turned around during the game and yelled back at him "I'm Trying!".
Emma will never be forgotten and the impact she made on her fellow teammates, coaches, and community is everlasting. Thank you for your support for the Corneillie family and in keeping Emma's memory alive. As you will notice in many of our HFC photos, many Fox players had Emma on their nameplate to honor her.