CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — Organizers of a basketball tournament being held this weekend in honor of two Chesterfield County teens are asking for a few more teams to enter.
The Rapids Forever 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament is this Sunday, Jan. 5 at James River High School. The deadline for teams to register is Thursday, Jan. 2.
It is an annual tournament hosted by students at the school and last January they renamed it in honor of Nick Booth and Will Hammitt, who died in a car crash in April 2023. Proceeds from the tournament went towards the group Youth of Virginia Speak Out About Traffic Safety, known as YOVASO, which promotes safe teen driving.
This year, organizers said they will use the money to create a scholarship in memory of the two.
"We want to support the community and we want to make sure that we honor these guys because they were great people," said 12th grader Derrick Jackson.
"We didn't want it to be just about one decision they made on this on this random night, we want to be about who they were as a person and remembering what they stood for," added 12th grader Jack Kardian.
Adam Sahms, also in 12th grade, said he remembered being at track and field practice when news starting breaking about their deaths.
"I remembered hearing it, but more importantly, seeing and understanding people's reactions and understanding that these were two people in the community that, even though I wasn't necessarily close with them, they were impacting people in a positive way," he recalled. "And it was a sobering experience to attend the memorial on Will-Nick field and it's something that I will absolutely carry with me for the rest of my life."
For David Booth, Nick's father, the tournament is just one of the examples of support from the community that has helped him get through the pas two years.
"It has been an unbelievable two years and I don't see it getting much better anytime soon," said Booth. "But, knowing that we have this network and these people that honestly care about us and their own children makes it a little more bearable and a little easier to have people to lean on."
Booth said while all the details of the scholarship have not been finalized, among the aspects will be that it is for students at James River High School, they must have a clean driving record, and it will also have a community involvement aspect.
"The importance of being a mentor, the importance of being a good role model. Because as parents, we're a little biased, but we also know that our boys were universally loved and respected by coaches, teachers, bosses, the campers that they mentored at ACAC, and that they were destined to continue that as they move forward in their lives," said Booth. "While we want safe driving to continue to be the message and we want people to understand the importance of it, we also want people to know who our kids were and to be able to honor not only who they were, but who they were going to become."
Booth spoke at last year's event and really focused his message towards the teens as the tournament was held a few days after another Chesterfield teen, Wyatt Fowler, was killed in a car crash. The crash happened on what would have been Nick's birthday, Dec. 30.
He said this year, he plans to deliver a message aimed at parents.
"We as parents protect our kids for the first 16 years of our lives as if they are the most -- and they are the most -- precious thing in the whole world. And then as soon as they turn 16, we hand them the keys to the most dangerous thing we'll ever hand them the keys to," said Booth. "As parents, I think our responsibility lies in maintaining the same discipline and the same oversight that we did when they were 10, 11, 12. Just because they're adults or young adults who have access now to a vehicle and extended freedoms doesn't mean that they're old enough or mature enough to always make the right decisions."
"Because, whether they're 18, 20, or 22, if something horrific like this happens, it changes your life forever. I don't know, and you'll never know, if the message reaches the teenagers, but maybe the message will reach the adults."
As of Monday, Sahms, Jackson, and Kardian said they were still looking for at least one more girls team and eight more boys teams to join the tournament.
Anyone in sixth grade and up are eligible to play (including adults) and the winners will share a $500 prize pool.
The deadline to register a team is Thursday.
The registration for teams on Sunday begins at 9:30 a.m. and the event, including speeches, starts at 11 a.m.
If you would like to donate to the tournament you can do so here.
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