Star basketball player Raphael Alcoreza is gone but not forgotten at Panorama Ridge Secondary, where he went to school and played the game until his sudden death in December 2017.
The popular Surrey student-athlete, in Grade 12 at the time, collapsed during a basketball game and perished in hospital a week later.
Former teammates, friends and family came together Saturday, May 10, for the RA 22 Alumni Basketball Tournament, a daylong, 15-team gathering at the Thunder gym where Raphael played high school hoops.
"We have 150-200 in attendance and have given out over $20,000 in scholarships since the start of the alumni tournament," explained Raman Bedi, a teacher and coach at the school.
"It is a place that brings the community together, current students and alumni to remember Raphael Alcoreza and also build long and lasting relationships."
Tournament photos and details are posted on instagram.com/thunderalumnibball.
Raphael was a busy basketball player, budding barber and volunteer with Surrey Crime Prevention Society, and eventually wanted to pursue firefighting as a career. Born in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, Alcoreza had dreams of playing pro ball in the Philippines one day, perhaps after courting one university or another.
“Sometime in my life,” he wrote in a player profile, “I would like to travel the world and enjoy my life to the fullest to see what the world has in store for me.”
During an exhibition game at Holy Cross Regional High School on Nov. 28, 2017, he complained to coaches of feeling dizzy and lightheaded. The athlete sought fresh air outside, where he collapsed due to cardiac arrest. Rushed to hospital by ambulance, Alcoreza spent the next eight days at Royal Columbian Hospital before he died, surrounded by family and friends.
A candlelight vigil at the school drew close to 1,200 people, and an online fundraiser collected more than $36,000 for his family.
The annual alumni tournament at Panorama Ridge involves strong players and teams from years past, Bedi explained.
"We host a barbecue, everyone gets to catch up and then everyone gets to compete," he said. "And as competitive as it is, there's just a lot of love and support in the room, so everyone's rooting for one another. We're obviously doing it for a bigger purpose. Everyone really looks forward to that one day a year where everyone gets to come together."
Bedi coached Raphael for five years, from Grade 8 until 12.
"That was a very good team because of Raph," he said of the 2017 squad. "He was our Plan A, B and C, and we had a great bunch of boys who knew their roles. Raph was one of the top players in the province that year. He was so good, and it’s hard to find players like that who can just take over a game. He was the star, and everyone knew he was the star."
Now, memorial scholarships in Raphael's name are given to senior Thunder students who play basketball.
"We’ve given out $20,000 so far, and we’ve raised a lot more, actually," Bedi said. "We have a criteria, and some years we've had two recipients win, and others there have been four students. There's some criteria, and they need to show that they serve not just their own purpose, but the community purpose, and also that they've gone through some type of hardship."
