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Robert Speisman’s
three daughters — Hayley (l.), Brittany and Tara — tossed up
the game ball Sunday in a tribute to their father, who died on
Sept. 11. Their grandfather, Jack Speisman, holds the
microphone. |
| The pair
of nets that hung from the basketball hoops last weekend in the gym
at Samuel Field YM-YWCA appeared perfectly intact. A closer look,
however, revealed a lone string dangling out of place beneath the
rim at the northern end of the court.
The
only other link missing from the inaugural game of the Robert
Speisman Basketball Scholarship Fund — a tribute held Sunday
afternoon that drew about 40 players and more than 100 fans to the
Y’s gym — proved to be Speisman himself.
A Little Neck native
who spent countless hours as a kid playing hoops on that floor,
Speisman died on Sept. 11 while traveling on the American Airlines
plane crashed into the Pentagon by terrorists.
Basketball
was one of Speisman’s greatest passions, a pursuit the 47-year-old
senior vice president for sales at Lazare Kaplan International
followed from his childhood to Irvington, N.Y., where he lived with
his wife, Rena, and their three daughters: Tara, Brittany and
Hayley.
In 1990, Speisman, the son-in-law of Lazare Kaplan
Chairman Maurice Tempelsman, founded an adult basketball league that
continues to meet every Sunday morning in Irvington. In the past
year, his parents, Jack and Joyce Speisman, started the fund named
for their son that has provided northeast Queens with its first free
basketball league for youths.
“The whole idea is that my son
will always be remembered, as well as where he grew up and what he
liked,” Jack Speisman said.
The new league is open to boys
and girls in grades 7-12. Registration began at the Y Sunday night
and will continue through Oct. 23 from 7-9:30 p.m. Games will be
held every Wednesday night beginning Oct. 30.
“The beauty of
this league is that everybody’s welcome,” said Nancy Amalfitano, the
Y’s director of activities and athletics. “We’re not looking for a
certain level of skill, and it’s free. It’s totally sponsored
through this fund. We’ll include refs, T-shirt costs, the
basketballs, the coaching — everything will be covered through this
fund. So that’s what makes this really unique.”
On Sunday, a
squad of Speisman’s fellow players from Westchester County squared
off against a large team of his family members and childhood
friends.
“He lived basketball,” Joyce Speisman said of the
second of her three children. “I’m so happy that we’re doing this. I
think he’s up there having a good time. I don’t think he would know
which team to root for, though. That’s the only
problem.”
Every action on the court represented Speisman’s
memory, including the unveiling of a plaque with his image and an
inscription to be displayed permanently at the Y. Every jersey worn
in Sunday’s game bore a common moniker: ‘Speis Ball.’
His
daughters tossed up the game ball. Marion Klepner, a family friend
who had known Speisman since he was 8, sang a stirring rendition of
‘America the Beautiful.’ His older brother, Steven, 51, who traveled
from his home in Scottsdale, Ariz. to emcee the event, introduced
many of the players from the local squad and even scored a bucket on
a turnaround jumper from the foul line in the fourth quarter.
Speisman’s nephew, Michael Weltman, 11, subbed into the game
in the final minute and sank a hook shot from the
lane.
“We’re here because, you know, a piece of Robby’s in
it, a piece of his heart,” said Steven Speisman. “My brother was a
very charismatic guy, and he made all this happen. It was a
beautiful day.”
The aging all-stars from Irvington outscored
the hometown crew, many of whose players traveled great distances to
play in the game. But the day’s real winners should prove to be the
youths of northeastern Queens.
“They came from all over —
Washington, Florida, California, all over,” Amalfitano said of the
hometown team’s members. “We’ve seen that same response in the
donations we’ve received, and the money’s still coming in, which is
wonderful.
“So at the rate we’re going, I know that this
league right now, just based on the money that we’ve brought in so
far, could run at least a good five years.”
Reach
reporter Joe Whalen by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call
229-0300, Ext. 146.
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