Saskatchewan Rush president Lee Genier leaves team to care for ailing brother

The president of the Saskatchewan Rush says he is stepping down so he can dedicate his time to caring for his brother in Calgary, who is battling cancer.

Lee Genier said stepping down was a tough decision to makebut ultimately, family comes first.

"When you have a family member and my brother and I are incredibly, incredibly close, [he's] someone I love very much it's time for me to focus my energy on him," Genier said in an interview Tuesday afternoon.

The National Lacrosse League team confirmed Genier's resignationseveral hours after he announced it himself on Twitter Tuesday morning.

"Lee's passion and leadership over the past year has been instrumental in the successful launch of the Rush in Saskatchewan and we will continue to rally around him as he steps aside to focus on his family," Rush owner Bruce Urban said in a statement.

The team says it plans to hold a fundraiser for the Genier family later in the season.

Under his leadership, the Rush successfully moved from Edmonton to Saskatoon, becoming back-to-back National Lacrosse League champions.

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The Rush have also become extremely successful in their short time in Saskatoon, regularly selling out the 15,000-seatSaskTel Centre stadium.

As a result, lacrosse fever has also caught on across the city. In 2016, the Saskatchewan Lacrosse Association saw growth numbers of 45 per cent.

"When I came here, not a lot of people knew what professional lacrosse was. It wasn't 9-to-5; it was 15-hour, 16-hour days, trying to tell everybody what this team would be like," Genier said.

"It's become one of the most successful sports franchises around in a very short time and it's been incredibly overwhelming the support of the fans not just in Saskatchewan but, you know, just the attention that it's garnered from across North America."

Geniersaid while running a sports team is no small feat, he's grateful for the friendships he's made in the province. He added that he's received an "outpouring of love from people right across the country" since he announced his departure.

"It's been like running a marathon and it's been great, and [I've] made some incredible friendships in this province, in this city people have become like family to me and I'm sorely going to miss that, so you'll see me back in the city a lot."