About Jorge Portela Memorial – Jorge Portela Memorial

The Beginnings

The Jorge Portela Memorial, Half Ass, Give Or Take An Inch, Fishing and Diving tournament originated from a friendly bet amongst Jorge’s friends as to who could catch more fish: the anglers or the divers?

The year was 1994! There were four boats: Jorge’s, Silvio’s, Mike’s, and Carlos’. There were a total of 15 anglers and divers. Two of the boats were in the diving category and two were in the fishing category. You could essentially target any fish and you would receive a total score based on the arbitrary point system set up by, I think Big Ed!

First prize was: A WEEKEND AWAY FROM THE FAMILY AT COLUMBUS DAY REGATTA!!! That year Silvio’s team consisting of Silvio, Big Ed, Antonio and Choky beat out the other eight! They are still waiting to get permission from their wives to go to the regatta! The fish fry was at Sari and Silvio’s house with “El Viejuco” frying the fish and all of Sari’s friends bringing the remainder of the side dishes. It was an awesome time!

Jorge Portela & the Tournament

Unfortunately, in 1997 our good friend Jorge lost his battle against cancer. At that time, the name was changed to the “Jorge Portela Memorial, Give or take an inch, Half Ass Fishing and Dive tournament.”

At that time, through the Gold Coast Auburn Club and it’s president, Brian Davis, we committed to setting up a four year scholarship, at Auburn University, for a Gold Coast, Florida resident. We have been fortunate to have been able to provide that scholarship since it’s inception, and we thank all of our donors for that.

On one rainy tournament day, the fish fry had to be moved, at the last minute, to the Key Biscayne Beach Club, and it has been there since!

The Tournament Through the Years

At some point, we commissioned the creation of our trophy which has the three fish most coveted in the tournament: Dolphin, Grouper, and Hog fish. It has become the ultimate prize, more coveted than a weekend at the Columbus Day Regatta!

Over the years, Jorge’s friends have tried to outdo each other with their favorite color scheme for the tournament shirts. You can tell how long the tournament has been running by the different colored shirts being seen daily throughout Miami and around the world!

We have grown to over 200 participants and 40 boats and an incredible number of friends that join us every year to show our love for Jorge and our support to Auburn University!

Jorge Portela Memorial Scholarship

As of 2015, our tournament is now part of the Key Biscayne Community Foundation. The Key Biscayne Community Foundation enables, facilitates, and empowers residents to make a positive difference in the local, greater, and global community through programs, grant making, fiscal scholarship, and community leadership.

The tournament format will remain the same, but the Foundation will enable us to better manage our future growth. We encourage everyone to visit the Foundation’s website at Key Biscayne Community Foundation to learn more about the great things they do for our community.

Each year the Tournament has been a great success, and through your generous contributions and participation, we have been able to offer Jorge Portela Scholarship Fund at Auburn University scholarship every year since it’s inception.

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