Play Like a Pro 2026

Hello ​friends!

In one week, the 1​2th annual Play Like a Pro charity hockey game ​will be back at Madison Square Garden on March ​​23rd, 202​6, and I'll once again be back behind the bench coaching and cheering on the players in this amazing game​ as we come together to raise funds and awareness for neuroblastoma, a rare pediatric cancer that develops in immature nerve cells.​

Now in its ​incredible 1​2th year, the game is organized by the Band of Parents, a grassroots, nonprofit organization that funds innovative research and clinical trials for the pediatric cancer neuroblastoma, and the Garden of Dreams Foundation, a nonprofit that works with The Madison Square Garden Company to positively impact children facing obstacles in their lives. The game is in memory of Talia Castellano, daughter of hockey-enthusiast and Band of Parents Chairman, Marc Winthrop, a Covergirl and an Internet celebrity who succumbed to this terrible disease in 2013.

I’m writing today to ask that you join me in the fight against neuroblastoma, by making a donation to sponsor me here. Thanks to your ​generous help, the 202​5 game raised an incredible record $2​9​5,000 (!!!) and our goal is to break the $300,000 mark for the first time ever. ​We're already over $​2​00,000 and we can use every dollar to beat this terrible disease.

​Since 2020, we've funded $24,340 (and counting!)​ of rare cancer research together and I'm thankful for each and every dollar of your continued support!

The Band of Parents’ goal is to fast track a cure using less toxic, targeted therapies and we need your help to increase the survival rate for this devastating childhood cancer. This is an incredible char​​ity, with more than 90% of every dollar raised going directly to research at leading neuroblastoma centers, such as Memorial Sloan Kettering, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Every dollar donated brings us closer to a cure, and all proceeds from this unique event go to these two incredibly worthy causes.

​To put into perspective the success of ​Band of ​Parents' fund​raising and deployment, in the 1980s, fewer than 5% of children diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma survived. ​Today, thanks to research breakthroughs, many funded by ​the ​Band of ​Parents, survival rates at top institutions​ lik​e Memorial Sloan Kettering (​MSKCC) now exceed ​50%​. But that is not enough.

If you are interested in learning more about the major research initiatives please do so here, or see the specific research and trials funded by the Band here.​ While the recent updates from the doctors on the front line have been extremely encouraging, we still need your help​.

I ​encourage you to pass this along to anyone who may want to join us, and I sincerely appreciate your continued support in making a difference in the lives of children fighting pediatric cancer​ by making neuroblastoma a thing of the past.

With hope,

Shane

#35