Play It Forward

11/15/2025

Happening NOW!!

11/15/2025

TOMORROW IS THE DAY!!! Hope to see all of you starting at 8am. Stop by for the day, for an hour, for 20 minutes! There will be great action, food, drinks & prizes.

11/14/2025

More Prize Basket peeping! Many of these baskets are over $500!

$20 for a ticket, 6 for $100. We hope to see you in 2 days at the Center! All welcome! 8am - 4pm play, afterparty 4:30 - 6pm. Come support rare cancer research!

lululemon

11/13/2025

Hope to see you there!

11/12/2025

Sneak peek!! There will be 12 incredible PRIZE BASKETS to win at Saturday's (11/15) Play It Forward PB shootout . $20 per ticket or 6 for $100. Stop by even if you're not playing to enter to win! Can't be there in person? Reach out to us and we'll enter your tickets for you. alford @

11/08/2025

Believe, an adorable gift/clothing store in downtown Steamboat, donated these fun treasures for our Furry Friends raffle basket YOU can win on November 15th! The basket will be named "Harley" in honor of the owners' dog who has rare cancer.

Remember to stop by the Center on 11/15 to buy your raffle tickets and choose the baskets you want to win - anyone can join us and have a chance to win all of these great prizes.

Thank you !

11/07/2025

This is Daniel Thibodeau. Before May 14th he was a healthy, highly requested ski school instructor and a bartender at Westend Grill. That day, he presented to the ED reporting a 1 month difficulty swallowing and a lump on his throat. His world was turned upside down in the next two weeks with biopsies, blood draws, scans and doctors’ visits until he was diagnosed with esophageal carcinoma with lymph node involvement. He has since undergone seven cycles of chemotherapy, which lasted 24 hours each, with a pump he had to take home. He experienced many uncomfortable side effects, worse of which were nausea, extreme fatigue and cold sensitivity. He enthusiastically offered to write his story, and stated he would do anything to help increase awareness of rare cancers, like the type he is affected by. However, he recently underwent an esophagectomy, with pneumonia as a complication and has not had the energy to write anything, as he battles to recover. He came into the clinic today and asked if I could summarize his story and urge our community to help those with rare cancer. His prognosis has improved since diagnosis with clear lymph nodes and margins and now begins his fight to regain strength. Please help, he says, rare cancers deserve attention and those affected deserve hope. Here’s to Daniel and to all who can help!!

11/05/2025

11/04/2025

11 days to go until the most fun pickleball showdown on Earth! Sign up via the QR codes or CourtReserve—spots still open in every division. It’s all about fun, not fear… and playing for something BIGGER: rare cancer research.

11/04/2025

Petra!! Thank you for this HUGE donation to Play It Forward's raffle baskets - $500 toward any Petra service. If you haven't heard of Petra, you are new to Steamboat. On November 15th, come by the center and put your raffle tickets in this basket. You'll look 10 years younger before you know it! :)

11/03/2025

The Furry Friends raffle basket at Play It Forward this year is paws-itively packed with treats! Thank you & Paws and Claws!
Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

11/01/2025

Defense. We pickleball players spend a lot of practice time on our offense, our fast serves, aggressive d***s and twoeys. The Ernies, Berts and ATPs (my favorite) that populate the highlight reels and earn a high five from our partners and cheers from the fans. Defense though, well defense gets you there. Keeps you in the point, lets you get back into the game, one step at a time across the mid-court and up to the Kitchen. You’re still in it! Clawing back from the precipice, inevitable, indomitable until suddenly you can dream of offense again. The put away, the killer drop or line painting drive. So long as you can get the ball back over the net you have a chance! For the last 13 years pancreatic cancer has been my main opponent and I have been scrambling on defense, scrapping, taking slams off my knuckles and diving all over the court. Thanks to the good folks at Memorial Sloan Kettering, the Jan Bishop Cancer Center and Anschutz Cancer Pavilion though I am STILL in this point! Thanks to the funds raised by Play It Forward (over $100,000!) I’ve weathered some blistering overheads and scrambled back to the line. Now I’m looking for that reset, that dream d**k or perfect lob. I can feel it. We’re getting back to even in this fight. I’m ready for the hands-battle. I can dream of offense again! Every single get, like every single dollar matters. It keeps us in the fight. “You, you, you!” Help me out partner. Help me and every other partner out there going up against cancer to get just one more ball back over the net. Just one more dollar to the scientists at Memorial Sloan Kettering to find a cure. One more shot. One more day of life. One more chance to dream."