Public invited to event honoring the memories of Club Blu victims

Jul 20, 2022 2 min read

Some of Southwest Florida’s most promising basketball players will take to the court this Friday night, in hopes of catching the eyes of college coaches who could potentially pave a path for their academic and athletic futures.

The fifth annual Stef’An Strawder Showcase Memorial will take place Friday, July 22, at Gateway High School, starting at 5 p.m. This event, which is open to the public, was started in 2017, one year after the tragic shootings at Club Blu that took the lives of 18-year-old Stef’An Strawder and 14-year-old Sean Archilles. Both young men were attending an end-of-summer event at Club Blu when gunfire rang out, injuring several people and killing Stef’An and Sean.

Both young men were avid basketball players, especially Stef’An, who was a standout at Lehigh Senior High School and had a promising basketball future ahead of him.

This annual showcase, organized by Lt. Sylvester Smalls of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, helps other young players hone their skills and hopefully put their names on the radars of coaches eyeing future recruits.

Friday night’s event will begin at 5 p.m. with middle school players, followed at 6 p.m. by high school athletes. The public is encouraged to come out to watch some spirited games of basketball and cheer on our local talent.

For additional information on the event, contact Lt. Smalls at ssmalls@sheriffleefl.org Media inquiries can be directed to Trish Routte, Crime Stoppers Manager, at troutte@sheriffleefl.org