- January 8, 2025
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Amilcar Matus, left, dribbles the ball to his team’s end of the court.
The players had their game faces on in memory of Bob Deronvil.
Players’ uniforms bore their nicknames and an emblem for Bob.
The competition between both teams was friendly but fierce.
Many of the players attempted 3-pointers to catch up the score.
Team MBK high-fives each other on the court.
Both teams constantly vied for the ball as the game neared its end.
Amilcar Matus, right, and his friend on the opposing team shared a laugh as they went in for a congratulatory hug.
Members of Team MBK show off their championship trophy.
Team MBK ultimately took the 2017 championship trophy.
Ultimately, everyone involved in the game played in memory of Bob Deronvil.
Tanya Garcia, left, awarded David Span, center, with one of the Bob Deronvil scholarships. Ariel Colon, the female winner, was already at school for the summer.
Family and friends of Bob Deronvil enjoyed being part of the event.
OCOEE School is out, but Ocoee High’s gymnasium was filled with spectators, volunteers and basketball players Saturday, June 17 — all playing a role in keeping Bob Deronvil’s memory alive.
Deronvil, a 2011 Ocoee High graduate, played on the school’s varsity time prior to beginning his first year at Northwood University in August 2011. But on September 10, 2011, he suffered a fatal heart attack while playing basketball at the university.
Nearly six years later, Deronvil’s friends, Milton Kerr and Amilcar Matus — along with Matus’s mother, Tanya Garcia — are keeping his legacy going through the Bob Deronvil Memorial Classic basketball game.
The game this year featured two teams of Deronvil’s former classmates playing in the name of their late friend. Spectators enjoyed concessions, entertainment from a deejay and the Ocoee High band, and a three-point and dunk contest. All proceeds went toward the Bob Deronvil Scholarship fund, which Garcia and Matus established to carry on Deronvil’s legacy.
The scholarship is awarded annually to one male and one female student athlete heading off to college. This year’s recipients were David Span and Ariel Colon.
“It means a lot to me to carry his name on,” Matus said. “His family wanted his name to be carried on, but they also wanted there to be a reason or purpose behind it. Since he couldn’t play basketball at school, we’re now sending other athletes to play and basically carry on their collegiate (careers) for Bob.”
Contact Danielle Hendrix at [email protected].
