A fishing tournament born out of tragedy has become a fixture on Mobile’s summer calendar, drawing anglers and old friends together each year to remember a young man whose life was cut short in a 2010 home invasion.
The Kyser Miree Memorial Fishing Tournament, now in its third year of competition, honors the memory of Kyser Miree, a Chevron engineer who was shot and killed during a robbery at his home on Macy Place in Mobile. The tournament was conceived by friends and family who wanted to turn their grief into something that would keep giving back to the community Miree loved.
“This is our third year. It would be our fourth, but we had the oil spill the year Kyser died. We’ve gained a lot of traction and expect to have a big turnout,” said Bry Shields, one of the organizers behind the tournament.
Organizers say the event is as much about celebrating who Miree was as it is about the fishing itself. Friends describe him as someone deeply engaged in the Mobile community, and they wanted an event that would reflect that spirit rather than simply mark his death.
“Keep some of the good, because Kyser was very involved in the community, and he brought a lot of good in Mobile. This is just a way to carry that on,” Shields said.
This year’s tournament will draw participants from well beyond the Mobile area. Miree’s parents are expected to travel from Birmingham to take part, alongside many of the friends who grew up with him or worked alongside him before his death. For them, organizers say, the tournament has become an annual reunion as much as a competition.
Proceeds from entry fees and sponsorships are distributed to several charitable causes each year. A portion of the money funds a scholarship established in Miree’s name at Vanderbilt University, his alma mater, while the bulk of the remaining proceeds benefit two local children’s charities.
“All of our profits go to charity. Some of them go to the scholarship at Vanderbilt in his name. Some of it, a lot of it actually, goes to Wilmer Hall Children’s Home and St. Mary’s Home here in Mobile,” Shields said.
Wilmer Hall Children’s Home and St. Mary’s Home both provide residential care and support services for children in the Mobile area, and organizers say the tournament’s charitable giving has grown alongside its popularity on the water.
Tickets for this year’s tournament remain on sale until midnight and can be purchased at the Ship-N-Shore on Dauphin Island or at Greer’s on Dauphin Island Parkway, as well as online through the tournament’s website. Anglers who want to maximize their time on the water this weekend have another option as well: the Stripers fishing tournament is being held on the island at the same time, and organizers are offering combination tickets that allow participants to fish in both tournaments.
For the friends and family who built the tournament from scratch in the wake of a devastating loss, the growing turnout each year is proof that a community can turn tragedy into something lasting. What started as a small gathering meant to honor one man’s memory has become an annual tradition that channels resources toward causes that mattered to him, all while keeping his name and story alive along the Alabama coast.