Friends, family and teammates honored Carmelo Tibus and his playing career with the Farmington United boys lacrosse team by hosting the United For Melo boys vs. girls memorial game on Aug. 9 at The Hawk in Farmington Hills.
The North Farmington sophomore died in a car accident on June 17.
While the 16-year-old played only two seasons with United, his impact on his teammates was tremendous.
“He was always smiling,” captain Matt Hess said. “He was always that kid, that when you were down, would make the funniest joke or comment, and you’d pucker up, start smiling and laugh with him. It was always a good time with him.”
Outside of seeing each other in the hallway at North, Hess didn’t know Tibus well until the underclassman signed up for lacrosse. Hess, a recent graduate who will begin studying nursing at Michigan State this fall, is two years older than Tibus.
“We actually lived in the same neighborhood,” Hess said. “I didn’t realize that until he asked me for a ride home one day. He lived just down the street from me.”
The more care rides Hess gave Tibus, the closer the two got — and the closer the other lacrosse players in the car got to Tibus as well.
Outside of lacrosse, they’d hang out.
After practices, they’d grab dinner together. Their friend group had a rotation, picking between Panera Bread, Wendy’s, Dairy Queen and Leo’s Coney Island.
Even at restaurants, Tibus’ comedian-like personality stood out.
“One time he ordered soup,” Hess recalled. “We’d always get the pick-two at Panera, with a sandwich and mac-n-cheese. And he ordered soup. We always made fun of him for that.”
Tibus would call shotgun in Hess’ car, but rarely got it because he was the youngest along for the ride. Tibus didn’t care. He was just happy to be part of the group.
“At first, we pushed him around because he was our little guy,” Hess said. “But then he quickly grew into becoming our friend — and our brother.”
United went 0-14 this past spring, but Hess called it the greatest season of his four years playing because of the team camaraderie. Based on the words shared by Tibus’ loved ones and teammates at the scrimmage, he was a big reason for that camaraderie.
“He had a great heart and soul for our team,” Hess said. “He was just a guy you’d love to be around.”
An A-plus for effort
As captain of United’s girls team, one of Paige Dilluvio’s favorite memories was a small scrimmage against the boys before spring practices started.
Only a few players from both teams participated, but the recent North graduate remembered how fun it was facing her schoolmates.
That special get-together was on her mind during Tibus’ funeral. After the service, she approached the captains of the boys team and suggested hosting another boys vs. girls scrimmage in honor of their fallen friend.
They could bring the community together, celebrate Tibus’ life and even raise money for the recently established Carmelo Quiton Tibus Lacrosse Legacy Fund.
“We always wanted to do a girls vs. boys game, and what better way to do it than to honor Melo,” Hess said. “This is something we all helped put on together, but Paige was the one who really took the driver’s seat on this.”
Dilluvio, who will study criminal justice and psychology at Saginaw Valley in hopes of becoming a police officer one day, spent the last six weeks organizing the event. That required renting The Hawk, acquiring liability insurance, ordering jerseys, spreading the word on social media, finding over 40 current and former United players for the scrimmage and asking those who were closest to Tibus to speak about the impact he made in others’ lives during a pre-game ceremony.
Speakers included Farmington Public Schools athletic director Allyson Robinson and North principal Joe Greene. The captains shared a few words, while Tibus’ mother, Becca, and girlfriend, Katelyn Zapinski, also addressed the crowd.
Tibus’ cousin, Madeleine Surowiec, sang the national anthem.
The toughest task, Dilluvio said, was assembling a list of rules that both teams agreed to, as boys and girls lacrosse are vastly different in style.
The event played out seamlessly, giving a grieving community a chance to celebrate Tibus by playing his favorite sport. So impressed by the organization of the scrimmage, Greene said he wished he could give his students extra credit.
A lesson in never giving up
With Salem leading by 15 goals, and the final few seconds of a game on April 17 ticking off the scoreboard, United’s other captain, Malachi Loewen, gave up.
The Farmington senior turned around and headed to United’s net, looking to dap up his teammates and congratulate them on a hard-fought effort.
But then Loewen heard a roar from the crowd inside North’s stadium.
With only two seconds left, Tibus launched a prayer from midfield, which snuck past Salem’s goalie as time expired.
Loewen regretted turning away early, realizing he missed an incredible play by Tibus. He learned a valuable lesson that night.
“There was something about him that inspired you to never give up because he never gave up,” said Loewen, who will wrestle at Olivet.
United shared that lesson at halftime of the scrimmage, inviting dozens from the crowd to attempt Tibus’ Hail Mary prayer from the 40-yard line.
“He never let a bad play get him down,” Loewen added. “It didn’t matter what he was doing, what the play was or what position he was in, he’d just give his all for the team, and we loved that about him.”
Two ways United is considering honoring No. 2
United will retire Tibus’ uniform number for at least the next two seasons.
That’s how long he would’ve worn his No. 2 had he been able to finish his career with the team before graduating in 2027.
It’s still unclear what will happen to his number in 2028, but coach Nick Gensheimer is kicking the tires on a few ideas.
United could leave it retired forever and play games with commemorative No. 2 patches on its uniforms.
Alternatively, the program could put it back in circulation in 2028, making it available for only team captains to wear or giving it to the player who best exemplifies the camaraderie, sportsmanship and positive outlook that Tibus has brought to his United teammates over the past two seasons.
That tradition started in earnest during the scrimmage. United allowed only one person at The Hawk to wear Tibus’ No. 2 — his mother, Becca.
You can get involved, too
In the wake of Tibus’ car accident, the Carmelo Quiton Tibus Lacrosse Legacy Fund was established, in hopes of raising money to support not only United’s program but also bring a youth club to the greater Farmington Hills area.
As of this writing, the fund has raised over $33,000, with 100% of the money going directly to local lacrosse. You can honor his legacy by visiting https://shorturl.at/QOUfz and pledging a donation.
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on his new X.com account at @folsomwrites.
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: United for Melo: Farmington United lacrosse teams host memorial game
Reporting by Brandon Folsom, Hometownlife.com / Hometownlife.com
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
