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Maple Leafs Jacke McCabe and Ryan Reaves share a laugh on the practice tees.

Star-studded golf tourney raises more than $100,000 for Special Olympians 

A trio of Toronto Maple Leafs recently made their way to Muskoka to help raise funds and awareness for a worthy cause. 

Maple Leafs blueliner Morgan Rielly hosted the Motionball Forty Fore Fall Classic at Taboo Muskoka Resort and Golf in Gravenhurst on Sept. 4 and 5. Rielly brought along teammates Ryan Reaves and Jake McCabe and in the process raised $105,000 for Motionball – a national nonprofit raising funds and awareness for the Special Olympics Canada Foundation through the power of inclusive sport and social events. 

“I got involved with Motionball a fews years ago,” said Reilly, who was joined by a field of 99 other golfers for the two-day event. “It’s a group of really good people supporting a really good cause,”

Rielly’s wife, Olympic gold medal-winning figure skater Tessa Virtue, has been involved with Motionball for years and sits on the board of directors. 

“It means a great deal to both of us,” said Reilly. “Being up here and having the chance to raise money for a cause important to me and important to a lot of people…is a great opportunity.” 

Ruby Lapin is a Special Olympian from Newmarket and a multi-sport athlete.

“It’s exciting to play golf here and to see all of my friends,” said Lappin. “I like the Maple Leafs. It’s so cool to see Morgan Reilly.”

Lappin is this year’s honorary Motionball athlete of the year and a medal-winning Special Olympian in gymnastics and curling. 

Motionball was founded in 2002 by three brothers – Paul, Mark and Sean Etherington. 

Paul says growing up, they learned the importance of volunteerism through their parents, who were, and are to this day strong supporters and advocates of the Special Olympics movement. He says having the fundraiser in Muskoka is the perfect fit.

“It’s a great course and the people here are great,” says Paul of Taboo. “Hosting this in Muskoka has really been a win for us. It’s a gorgeous location right on the water and we’re able to catch people in Muskoka coming off the long weekend.”

Having Morgan Reilly host the event and bring a few of his teammates along doesn’t hurt either, said Paul.

“Tessa Virtue’s been a longtime supporter of ours and that’s how I know her,” says Paul. “Morgan’s become a friend and we wanted to get him involved as well. We knew he liked golf so this was the perfect fit.”

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