In 2001, Columbus North student Casey Cooley’s life was cut short by an automobile accident.
Throughout Cooley’s life, one thing always was her passion — volleyball. So in 2003, a tournament was started that carries on the passion and memories that Cooley exhibited during her time playing the sport.
This year’s Casey Cooley Memorial Volleyball Tournament that was played Saturday and Sunday at Hauser featured 48 teams in two separate divisions. Twenty-four middle school teams played on Saturday, and 24 high school teams played on Sunday. This was the first time the tournament was played at Hauser after being at North in previous years.
While most of the teams were with the local Hope Area Volleyball Club (HAVOC), some teams came from as far as Hanover, Gas City and Kokomo to participate this year.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
At the start of the tournament, all participants and coaches lined up for a moment of silence, then gave a special golden volleyball to Cooley’s mother Lisa. There were two gold volleyballs, with one going to the Cooley family and the other to be kept on display in honor of Cooley. There are an estimated 500 signatures from players, coaches and officials spread over the two golden balls.
Lisa Cooley was in attendance for the first time since she moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2015.
“(Casey) absolutely loved playing volleyball,” Lisa Cooley said. “Whenever the volleyball season ended, she would always be like, ‘When does club start?’ She was an athlete. She loved to win, but to her, it wasn’t all about winning. She wanted to have fun, too.”
Kyla Blair, one of the coaches in the tournament, knew Casey Cooley growing up as a kid.
“Casey was great and always had a smile on her face. She was always there for everybody,” Blair said. “She was the goofy one. Whenever everyone was serious, she was not the serious one and didn’t care what anyone said. She was that class clown that everyone loved. She was never rude or mean to anybody, and everyone loved being around her.”
Tournament directors Erica Raisor and Jenna Ortega both knew about the Casey Cooley Tournament when they began participating as players. The pair now are the directors of HAVOC and coaches in the tournament.
“When Lisa gave us the opportunity to host it, we’ve been planning it for the last year,” Ortega said. “It takes a lot of time and energy, but it is all so worth it.
Raisor agreed.
“This tournament is really close to our hearts because it has been engraved in our volleyball lives for so many years,” Raisor said. “It’s been a lot of fun. There’s a lot of long nights, but just to see how many girls line the courts this morning for the moment of silence, and to give Lisa the ball was just so special, and that’s why we all play is for the camaraderie of the sport and the love of the game, and that’s what the weekend was about.”
Ortega said she will start planning on next year’s event in a few weeks.
