AUBURN — To know Kylee Gendron and to comprehend the game of hockey was to understand how the two went hand-in-hand.

Cuts, bruises and even broken bones don’t stop a player from skating until the end of his shift, and cancer didn’t prevent Gendron from squeezing the most out of her unjustly brief life.

Taylor Harrison remembers 2011, the second year of Celebration of Courage co-ed hockey tournament that was launched in Gendron’s honor. So many teams and volunteers came forward that it was a two-day affair.

“The first day Kylee was in the hospital,” Harrison said. “The second day she checked herself out and came to the tournament.”

Gendron died at 33 on June 3, 2012, two weeks before the third-annual benefit at Ingersoll Arena. Already having come to terms with her fate, Gendron had requested that any funds go to help Cherie Sargent of Turner, a mother of four who had been diagnosed with colon cancer.

Only days before her death, Gendron’s final public appearance was another sporting event that meant the world to her — daughter Jessie’s first-ever softball game.

“There is a YouTube video. She got out of hospice just to be there,” Harrison said. “She was a competitor. She was a fighter, and what better sport than hockey to honor someone like that?”

This year’s Celebration of Courage is set for next Saturday, June 15. Opening ceremonies are at 10:40 a.m.

Eight co-ed teams are entered, with competition all afternoon and evening, followed by an after party at Gritty’s.

And the spirit of supporting cancer patients and families in their time of need continues. This year’s beneficiary is Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine. Harrison has stayed on as one of the event’s chief organizers.

“Last year a family fell into our lap. It was always done kind of at random,” Harrison said. “This year I personally wanted it to be Make-A-Wish because I had a seen a video about a boy named Darren who was 15. He had Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and his wish was to give back to his football team. It was so selfless, and I said, ‘We’ve just got to do something for these kids.'”

Harrison said that Make-A-Wish grants one wish in Maine, on average, every five days.

The tournament’s fund-raising goal is $12,000, which would fulfill two wishes. Children in the Lewiston-Auburn area would be given preference, Harrison said.

“Kylee loved, loved, loved kids,” Harrison said. “I know she would approve of this.”

The two women did not know each other well until Gendron’s diagnosis and the genesis of the fundraiser.

“Our friendship and relationship grew through the tournament,” Harrison said. “I don’t know if I could get that close to somebody and then lose them again. But through this we still get to meet our wish kids, which is very nice.”

The tournament was scaled back to eight teams and one day in 2012 and will stay with that format this year due to ice time limitations.

With the construction of a new dual-sheet ice arena adjacent to Auburn Mall scheduled to wrap up in the fall, the tournament is sure to benefit.

“We have every intention of growing it more and more,” Harrison said.

Although no openings are left on the ice, there are numerous ways to help.

Spectators are encouraged to attend and cheer on their favorite team, something Harrison said Gendron could do better than anyone.

“She had an air horn that she would take to her son Joey’s hockey games, and she’d yell at him and the other kids,” Harrison said. “Not obnoxious, but awesome.”

There is an ongoing bottle drive associated with the tournament, as well.

You may drop bottles at Roopers, 545 Minot Ave., and designate them for the Celebration of Courage/Make-A-Wish account.

Bottles also will be collected at Ingersoll Arena on the day of the tournament.

Businesses wishing to donate and have their name or logo on the game jerseys must do so by Monday. For more details, call Harrison at 577-7176.

To make a direct donation, go to http://friends.wish.org/079-000/page/Taylor-Harrison/Celebrate-Courage.htm.

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