Alumni game: North Port, Port Charlotte, Charlotte, Venice alumni to take part

NORTH PORT — The third annual Curt Allen Alumni basketball game is set for "The Cage" gym at North Port High school on Aug. 3.

This time, however, things will be different.

Teddy Deas, an alumnus who graduated in 2015, said the event should be the biggest rendition yet.

This year's event will not only feature NPHS graduates, but also alumni from Venice, Port Charlotte and Charlotte high schools as well.

NPHS and PCHS men and women will be featured along with VHS and CHS men.

Festivities will start at 4:30 p.m. Aug. 3 at NPHS, 6400 W. Price Blvd.

A live DJ, food vendors, raffles, and half-court shot contests will also be going on during the night.

The benefit, as always, will then be capped off by scholarship awards that come courtesy of the Allen’s Memorial Scholarship fund.

Deas and the team are still open to contributions to said fund. He can be reached at teddy.deas23@yahoo.com

“Really, we try to make it the event of the summer. In this community basketball has seemed to be a connector of bringing people together," Deas said.

There is a high volume of attendees every year, but bringing in neighboring communities will expand it even further, he believes.

Schools will play against one another, creating a more competitive atmosphere.

“There’s already been some smack talk going on,” Deas said.

Notwithstanding, everyone will be under the same roof, in the same cage, and Deas believes the atmosphere will be one packed with good vibes.

"Some of these people haven’t seen one another since they graduated. They'll talk over memories from school," Deas said.

The event, orchestrated by Deas and others, has been going on for four years total, but it has been honoring the deceased Allen, a beloved economics teacher, and his wife Debbie for three.

The community coming together is the main goal. Deas hopes it continues if he ever has to move away due to his job in the corporate world.

But another aspiration of his, along with holding a fun event honoring the Allens, is to cultivate a younger group, finding a captain of sorts to pass the torch to, so the alumni games always occur.

“As far as my career goes, I’m not sure how long I’ll be in Florida,” Deas said, also citing age in regards to him playing in such games.

But his focus, for now, remains on the court. And he believes the benefit is great for the community and the players involved.

“Allen would love it," Deas said. "It’s really like a huge family reunion in a sense."