Kiser Tournament Celebrates Second Year

On Saturday January 26th, the Gilmer County Park and Recreation Center held the Second Annual Wylie Kiser Memorial Tournament to benefit the Wylie Kiser Scholarship Fund.The tournament featured both boy and girl basketball players ranging from 8 to 12 years old. The event was held to honor the life of eleven year old Wylie Kiser. Kiser, a fifth grade Gilmer County Middle School student, lost his life to a brain tumor on January 13, 2012.

During the tournament members of the Gilmer Middle School Student Council collected donations at both the Gilmer Middle School and Ellijay Elementary School gymnasiums to help fund the Kiser Scholarship.

“The Park and Rec. (Dept.) helped us put it all together. We are doing it to honor his memory and to also let the kids have fun playing basketball,”

Kiser’s third grade teacher Amy Kiser told FYN on Saturday.

Kiser also told FYN that Gilmer County Middle School Teacher and Gilmer Middle School Student Council Adviser Tracy Jenkins was responsible for getting the Gilmer Middle School Student Council involved with the tournament.

Donations from the tournament will go to at least two seniors at Gilmer High School as graduation scholarships. At the first annual Wylie Kiser Memorial Tournament last year, the tournament raised a total of $1,000 for the scholarship fund.

Kiser’s mother Jill Darling told FYN she hopes the scholarship will continue to grow and be an annual event.

“It’s a great way to honor him and have the kids involved. They loved Wylie so much that they wanted to be part of something that would honor him every year.”