Dru Gimlin 3 on 3 seeks volunteers

QUINCY — Organizers of the Dru Gimlin 3 on 3 basketball tournament designed to benefit Quincy athletics are looking for volunteer help for the 2022 tournament.

The tournament returns June 18; team check-in begins at 8 a.m. There are brackets for children and youths from third grade through high school, an open tournament and a tournament for adults.

Tournament Chair Stephanie Boorman said proceeds from the tournament benefit the Dru Gimlin Foundation.

This year will be the 16th tournament. The 2019 tournament was canceled, and the next two fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s the foundation’s only fundraiser, Boorman said.

Dru Gimlin was a student at Quincy High School when he was killed in a traffic accident.

“It was Valentine’s Day, 2003,” Boorman said. “He was the only one involved and unfortunately, he didn’t make it.”

To honor his memory, the tournament was founded.

“Dru is the true reason behind the tournament, and a big reason why we try to keep this tournament going,” she said via email. “I wish everyone had the opportunity to experience an evening at the old high school gym watching him and the rest of the varsity team play.”

The foundation and the tournament started as a way to remember Gimlin, and to benefit future Quincy athletes.

“His friends decided they wanted to do something to honor him and remember him,” Boorman said. “The foundation was created to (ensure) that finances were never a reason students couldn’t participate in athletic programs.”

Normally organizers ask for sponsorships from local businesses, but decided against that for 2022. Boorman explained why to Quincy City Council members at their May 3 meeting.

“(The coronavirus pandemic) had a huge impact on a lot of our local businesses, and we don’t want to hit them up our first year back,” she said. “Our main goal is just to bring the tournament back because our community benefits from it. The tournament will be funded by the foundation, by the registration fees and by any sponsorships that come in unsolicited.”

But keeping the tournament going requires help.

“We desperately need volunteers, though,” she told council members. “Our tournament survives off volunteers.”

A lot of the volunteer help used to come from QHS students, who made the tournament a senior project.

“I did it as my senior project in 2006,” Boorman said.

But the senior projects are no longer required, and volunteer help in general has been more difficult to come by, she said. Tournament organizers are looking for any and all volunteers as a result.

The tournament is held on the streets of downtown Quincy, from Central to C streets and about one block east and one block west, Boorman said. Typically the tournament draws about 70 teams from throughout North Central Washington and beyond.

Streets will be closed off that Friday night and remain closed until the end of the tournament on Saturday. As a result, volunteers are needed to help set up Friday night and take down and clean up Saturday afternoon.

Volunteers also run the registration desk as well as serve as court monitors (referees) and scorekeepers, Boorman said. Court monitors and people to help set up and tear down are the biggest needs, she said.

People can volunteer by contacting Boorman, 509-289-0688, or leaving a message on the tournament’s Facebook page at facebook.com/DruGimlin303.