A Tribute to the Life of Freddy Adams

In March of 1993 a cloud of sadness and shock enveloped the Fishtown community. A beloved son had been brutally murdered. Only sixteen years old, Freddy Adams suffered an atrocious beating at the hands of cold blooded killers.

Tall and handsome, Freddy Adams had the world at his fingertips. With a purple scarf tied around his head you could find him in the Fishtown Rec deeply involved in a game of cards, whiffle ball or roller hockey. Other times he would have an electric razor in his hand and a line of "customers" waiting for one of his famous haircuts. He would smile at friends passing by, his eyes dancing under long dark lashes grinning at a joke about being the neighborhood barber. His life was filled with the activities of an active high school junior. A member of the North Catholic Soccer and Baseball teams, he also played for the Fishtown AC and Irish American Soccer Club. He was preparing to be a lifeguard at the Fishtown Rec where he refereed hockey leagues for younger neighborhood boys. A life that was filled with the sweetness of youth and the dreams of a promising future.

The future that he was entitled to, the one that he had planned—going to the prom, getting a drivers license, going to college—was stolen from him. A lesson had to be learned from the death of Freddy Adams. His death could not be in vain. To allow his life to become a distant memory would have been a great injustice to such a gentle young man. His memory would live on and from his death other young people would be given the opportunity to begin fulfilling their dreams.

From this horrible tragedy, The Freddy Adams Sports Tournament has grown over the years to become a monumental tribute to the life of Freddy Adams.