Annual basketball tournament raises money for fallen police officer's family
Six teams competed Sunday in a tournament to honor Matthew Fast, a Frederick Police Department officer who died in May 2016.
The annual charity event, renamed the Matthew Fast Memorial Interagency Basketball Tournament in 2017, dates back years, Frederick Police Officer Chris Chiaravalloti said. When Chiaravalloti and Sgt. Chris Prior revived the the tournament in 2015, Fast was one of the participants.
“Good guy,” Chiaravalloti said. “He played on our team. He was our big man.”
After Fast’s death, they decided that the proceeds of the tournament would go to Fast’s family. At the time of his death, Fast and his wife had just had a baby and another on the way, Chiaravalloti said.
The six teams playing Sunday were composed of members of the Frederick Police Department, the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services, the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services and the YMCA. Other departments have participated in the past, Chiaravalloti said.
The tournament wasn’t limited to age or agency either. There were men and women on the teams, and a handful of children and teenagers also played. One participant traveled all the way from New York.
The event raises money through the $5 admission fee and concession sales. There’s never a concrete goal for how much money the tournament aims to raise, Chiaravalloti said.
Brittany Riley, who has been playing in the tournament for about six years, said she plays because she loves basketball.
Riley, who plays on the Fire and Rescue team, said her brother is on the Sheriff’s Office team, so it gets competitive. Oddly enough though, she said, they’ve never been on the court at the same time.
But at the end of the day, she said, the tournament is all about Fast and his family.
It was the first year participating in the tournament for Donavin Vinson, who was playing for the Department of Juvenile Services. He has played in plenty of basketball charity events, he said, most recently a month ago.
“I love basketball, but it’s even better when you’re doing it for a purpose,” he said.
There were also smatterings of attendees who were watching the games.
Matthew McKetney, Emily McKetney, Michelle Simon, Maggie Dordevic and 4-year-old Carson had a series of posters they could rotate out for Travis Dordevic, who was playing on the Juvenile Services team.
The family has come out to support Dordevic in the previous tournaments, they said, but it’s also nice to see all the agencies come together for a common cause, they said.
Carson’s favorite part was the dribbling, he said, demonstrating his skills.
Regine Moore has also been coming to the tournament for a while, she said. She played with her brothers, father and uncle on their team last year, but she decided to sit out this year. Her family played for the YMCA team.
There was a mix of ages on the teams, she said, but she especially liked watching the older people play.
“It’s nice to see older people still doing what they love,” she said.
And like many of the other spectators and players, Zamarre Snowden, who was watching the game with Moore, said it was good to see so many agencies come together for one goal
“It’s a combination of people, everyone is coming together to support something,” he said.
