- S
- D
On Friday, May 9th, 2014, we lost 13 yr old Jay Kumar to Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, an extremely rare brain tumour.
After his passing, the Kitchener Waterloo community came together with an outpouring of support for Jay and his family and in his memory, his teammates, coaches and friends started the Kumar Classic, a charity 3 on 3 basketball tournament in Jay's honour.
Every year, the 3v3KumarClassic basketball tournament brings together fun, community and charity to raise awareness of Brain Tumour in Canada and make sports more accessible to children in the KW region.
Each tournament participant receives a silicone bracelet. JK15 represented Jay Kumar (JK) and the number he wore in his last season (15). #JK15 is used throughout the day to honour his memory. The 2014 U13 Vipers team faced an extremely challenging year facing 15 of the top 16 teams in Ontario (all Division 1). The team was tasked with a motto of “Never Give Up” and Jay took that to heart. On the court, regardless of the score, Jay never quit playing. Off the court, Jay was determined to stay strong and not give up in his battle against cancer. For these reasons, on the reverse side of the band “Never Give Up” is inscribed
Our goal is to raise $10,000 this year to celebrate our 10th anniversary! All proceeds go towards the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada and the Jay Kumar Memorial Scholarship.

