Semoball

Twin Rivers honors classmate with warmup tops

Dom.

Twin Rivers honored a friend these past two weeks in a simple but meaningful way by wearing his name on their warmup tops.

“It was a big thing for the kids and helped with the grieving process. I hope it shows the impact that young man had,” Twin Rivers girls basketball coach David Crockett said.

Dominick Alejandro Esquivel, 17, died in a car accident Dec. 15.

After talking to his three seniors and asking what they wanted to do to honor Dom, one of the first ideas was to put his name on their warmup tops. Crockett spoke with the booster club and spoke with Southeast Graphics and Designs, who came up with a design and had everything made in time for the first round of the Lady Royals Christmas Classic that Saturday.

“We made some phone calls and people just jumped on board,” Crockett said. “I think they pretty much stopped and got those done.”

The boys basketball team also got tops made and wore them during the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament.

“They are pretty proud to wear them in his honor,” Twin Rivers boys basketball coach Seth McBroom said. “The community has really stepped up for us. Everybody pitched in and worked together to get it done so quickly.”

While Esquivel did not play sports at Twin Rivers, both the boys and girls programs canceled the games they had scheduled on Dec. 17, two days after, making their annual holiday tournaments their first return to the court.

“Basketball was not on anybody’s mind at that point. That just tells you the kind of impact he had. We all know extracurriculars are important to schools, but nothing remotely close to the loss of a student,” McBroom said. “We love him and would do anything for him.”

Twin Rivers also held vigils during the week and blocked off Esquivel’s parking spot during the Lady Royals Christmas Classic. There was a moment of silence prior to the first game of the tournament and Esquivel was honored during the radio broadcast, as well.

The Doniphan Donettes wore blue shoelaces, Puxico held a hat day where students could donate $1 for the Esquivel family and wear a hat during school.

As students return from the holiday break, both McBroom and Crockett said their teams honor Esquivel will largely be up to the students. They may wear Dom’s name every game, or maybe just for home games, or maybe they’ll retire the jerseys.

The girls play at Kelly on Monday and the boys will do the same Tuesday. If the players want to wear Dom’s name, then they will.

“Everyone grieves differently, “Crockett said. “However they need to continue grieving, then that’s what we’re going to do.”

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: