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Memorial basketball tournament for Joseph ‘JoJo’ Gorecki Jr. set for Dec. 26

Date: 12/17/2015

WILBRAHAM – The second annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament in memory of Hampden resident and Minnechaug Regional High School alumni Joseph “JoJo” Gorecki Jr. will take place on Dec. 26 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the high school.

Mia Gorecki, Joseph’s sister, told Reminder Publications the tournament raised more than its $3,000 goal for the Joseph Gorecki Jr. Scholarship Foundation, which provided four student athletes with scholarships last year.

“[The scholarship is for] athletes across the board,” she added. “Some of these athletes who are tremendous talent can’t necessarily get these athletic scholarships offered by these schools anymore, so it’s just a little something to help them.”

Joseph Gorecki was the victim of a shooting on the afternoon of Oct. 13, 2014 at the Sullivan Apartments on Nursery Street in Springfield. He passed away at the age of 19. He graduated from Minnechaug in 2013 and was a lifelong Hampden resident.

Mia said at least 300 people from the local community attended her brother’s vigil in the aftermath of the shooting.

“He was known for being an athlete – that was kind of his identity,” she added. “The best thing about him [was] he loved everybody. In this world that we live that’s very stereotypical and everybody judges everybody, JoJo judged nobody.

She said she wasn’t surprised by the outpouring of community response in the wake of her brother’s death, but she believes Joseph might not have known how much everybody loved him.

She added, “You wish that he could have seen them and I know he did, but it was truly amazing.”

Mia said the event would include a DJ, raffles and contests in addition to the basketball tournament.

“They’re 11-minute games,” she explained. “It’s four players per team and there’s a sub. Every team has one girl to keep the competition fair and fun for everybody. It’s not winner takes all.”

For more information about the event, visit http://jojogorecki3.wix.com/jojos-tshirts.