It’s Not About the Game

A sense of community. That is what so many Edmonds residents say they enjoy about living here. And why not? Everywhere you turn there are people reaching out to help one another. No where was this more evident than when Edmonds-Woodway High School student Jordan Rice and his older brother Brad lost their father, Cory, when he suffered a heart attack on Christmas Eve. Several years earlier their mother had succumbed to cancer. It is times like these when people struggle with wondering what they can do to help.

But keeping true to the spirit that embodies this community, residents united with one another to lend their support to Jordan and Brad in any way possible. What was truly moving was the way Jordan’s own basketball teammates responded.

Beckie Peterson is the president of the Edmonds-Woodway Booster Club and also has a son on the boys’ varsity basketball team. She witnessed firsthand how the boys reacted to Cory’s unexpected death. “When something like this happens, the layers of life become more real,” shared Beckie. “Cory was a constant, quiet presence at every game.”

The boys shared with one another the challenges they would face playing in their first home game following Cory’s death. After all, everyone knew there would be an empty spot in the stands where Cory had been a fixture. “It was really amazing to see these 15, 16 and 17 year olds relate and empathize with Jordan,” said Beckie. But according to the team, an empty spot was not going to be an option.

With only five short days to accomplish their goal, the boys and the rest of the high school students went to work doing what teenagers do best. Social media. There, they launched a grassroots effort to fill the stands for the home game versus Arlington. The result? Phenomenal. With the student and parent sections completely full, the intensity and emotion was electric. “And Jordan played the game of his life,” said Beckie. The team lost the game in the final seconds, but that did not matter. “Winning that game was not what that game was about. It was about the community helping Jordan.”

During halftime the Booster Club facilitated a collection so that they could help raise money for a gift card for gas and groceries for Jordan and Brad. The response was overwhelming. And it was not just the hometown crowd that opened their wallets; the Arlington fans did as well. After the game, the Arlington team also did its part to pay their respects to Jordan. “I take my hat off to them,” said Beckie of the Arlington team and its fans. “It was quite remarkable.”

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