LUBBOCK, Texas — Folks will be playing in the Selah Mendieta Memorial Golf Classic on October 7 at Meadowbrook Golf Course to fundraise for scholarships and honor the life of Selah Mendieta. However, those putting it together said they still need more teams to sign up to play and support the cause by Friday, September 15, and help keep Selah’s smile shining bright for generations to come.
Selah was one of two O’Donnell teens killed in a car accident last December near the small town, and it was hard for everyone she impacted through sports, FFA and more.
“She loved to make friends,” said Selah’s father, Max Mendieta. “She loved to be the one that was the center of attention, whether it was through sports or the stock show and everything, she wanted to be the one to share that smile.”
Now, Mendieta’s dream of honoring his daughter, and helping the West Texas community, is coming to life through the Selah Mendieta Memorial Golf Classic.
“I don’t want her name to die nor the spirit of these other kids,” said Mendieta. “I want them to always live to know, hey, this young girl lost her life, but she never lost her spirit. And most of all, the smile that she had and gave to everybody else, it shared with everybody else.”
Mendieta’s longtime friend and tournament organizer, Alex Christan, said he is glad to help make light out of such a difficult experience.
“Every day is a struggle, but actually I get my fuel from Max because he’s turned this into a positive thing on how to cope with losing her, and doing this tournament to raise money for things she was passionate about,” said Christan. “What he’s doing to honor her memory, I think it’s amazing.”
Even though the journey from December 2022 to now has had its challenges, both Mendieta and Christan said the life Selah lived, and the support through it all, easily make the work worth it.
“We can have 72 teams, so we would like to see 72 teams,” said Christan. “I think our last update, we’re hitting about 40 and we know that to go up even more, so I think this is just a footprint of many things he’s going to do to honor her memory.”
“We want to share her love with everybody to know, ‘Hey, I’m not gone. I’ll always be here and there’s always somebody to talk to.’”
The deadline to sign up for the event is Friday, September 15. If you would like to participate in the golf tournament, donate or help out in any way, you can visit the Selah Mendieta Memorial Scholarship page on Facebook.
