The first annual Dylan Isaacs Memorial Basketball Tournament took place this afternoon to honor the man who was tragically killed in Florida in January.
What started out as a call out for interest on social media turned into a full-blown tournament with participants coming from across North America.
“The support has been amazing. I didn’t think I was going to get emotional. I was videotaping the game, and started tearing up a little bit because the game was so good, all the crowd was into it. I just know Dylan would be so in love with everything going on right now,” said organizer, Ryan Marack.
There are fifteen teams participating in the Dylan Thomas Memorial Tournament, collectively competing for $45,000 in prizes. However, their reasons for playing go beyond the monetary reward.
“I’m very thankful also emotional obviously, but very thankful for how big this has been. Overwhelming to think our small community could put such a big tournament together,” said Dylan’s friend, Cleveland Thomas.
There are talks of taking the Dylan Isaacs Memorial Tournament international one day hosting participants from all over the world in Ohsweken to play basketball and remember Dylan.