Today we’d like to introduce you to Seidah Durante.
Hi Seidah, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story begins in a small town outside of Philadelphia nearly a half century ago. Norristown, PA – my birthplace, my family, my education, my values, my many life lessons – the place that groomed me, and the place I bid farewell over 12 years ago. Yup, my husband Ronnell, son Gyree, first daughter Geniyah, and second daughter (7 and 1/2 months in utero) Gabrianna packed up a U-haul and drove to the Sunshine State. We arrived just south of Ft. Lauderdale in mid-June of 2014, and our Gabby-girl arrived near the end of July. From there the Durante “5 Kind Family” had new meaning.
We dragged much of our Yankee upbringing to South Florida, but also embarked on new beginnings and traditions. I now was a mother of three and started working from home full time as manager with my public accounting and consulting firm. My husband went full throttle into basketball, stretching every bit of his day organizing and coaching high school boys AAU and still maintaining ownership of his semi-professional men’s team back in Pennsylvania.
After three years of slathering on sunblock any time we even thought about walking outside and wading ankle-deep in clear blue ocean waters, we decided to move to the northern part of Florida and landed on the outskirts of Jacksonville. Here is where so much joy and pain began to intertwine and re-define my life.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Looking back on my life now, I realize that I have been tremendously blessed. Despite the challenges along the way, I know God has truly provided so much for me and my family and allowed us to encounter people, explore places, and experience things that I never dreamed were possible. Honestly, though, the last decade has been the most traumatic. Starting in 2015, just a year after relocating to Florida, our oldest and only son began suffering from tonic-clonic seizures. As a star quarterback, these unannounced, aggressive, and extremely dangerous episodes interrupted Gyree’s football plans and ransacked our lives. Sadly, he would succumb to epilepsy in October 2021, just six months after graduating from the University of Central Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Management.
This absolutely broke my entire family. So many of our loved ones and Gyree’s closest friends were rocked by his sudden passing. For my husband, though, the loss of his best friend crushed him to the core. I believe the emotional toll of Gyree’s death manifested into the physical ailment that Ronnell experienced just a year later, which ultimately lead to his death. In March 2023, merely six months after initially exhibiting symptoms of dementia, loss of speech and muscle coordination, Ronnell’s labored breathing stopped and he ascended to meet Gyree. Cause of death…Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)…an incurable, 1-in-1 million rare and rapidly degenerative disorder.
Lost and distraught does not even begin to describe the sunkenness of my soul at this point in my life. Our guys were everything to the family. Me and the girls were now stuck to figure this life out by ourselves. Trekking through this trauma with Geniyah and Gabby has tested my faith and challenged my confidence as a single parent.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Jacksonville Force?
I am the Owner/President of a nonprofit, semi-professional women’s basketball organization called the Jacksonville Force. Founded in 2020 alongside my angel husband and son, the Force was a tangible unfurling of a long-time passion for women’s sports.
Avid fans of female basketball players even before the launch of the WNBA, we boldly decided to explore owning and operating a team for women in and around the city of Jacksonville, after ending our stint managing a men’s team in the American Basketball Association (ABA). The switch to the Women’s ABA in 2021 was very intentional and timely. Our first year in that league closed with a bang, as we won the championship in October 2021. YES, the same exact time we lost Gyree. One Monday we’re gut-punched with the news of his passing, and five days later we’re celebrating the victory he predicted without him.
The following season my husband and I, with heavy hearts, continued pushing our phenomenally talented ladies into competition, but independently. Big plans were on the horizon…that is until CJD changed the trajectory of our lives. Without my fireball of a husband at the helm, I seriously doubted if I could press on.
In the short weeks after Ronnell’s passing, God assured me, however, that He most definitely intended for the Force to remain a force. Still grieving, still shaken, still unsure, I obediently answered, “Yes, Lord!” After a prayer call and meeting with the team’s then assistant coach, who adamantly stated, “I’m with you ’til the wheels fall off!” the JaxForce was revived.
We slowly began rebuilding, hosting basketball and community events, and recruiting for more ladies. In a matter of months things started coming together, as we consistently attracted female hoopers to our free open gym Saturdays and then launched the City’s first Pro-Am tournament for women. This past March marked the completion of our third Pro-Am series.
How do you define success?
I define success as Striving Until you Carry to Completion Every Stage of your Story. Your story is what you make it. It’s the journey you embark on and intend to accomplish. It’s how you press on with God’s grace and don’t give up despite the circumstances, because He is faithful to see you through it.
Pricing:
- Home game single ticket prices are generally $12-$15 for fans age 13 and up. Kids 12 and under are FREE.
- Sponsorship levels start at $350, but donations of any amount are appreciated.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jacksonvilleforce.com
Image Credits
Personal Photo – Seidah Durante (CrownCapture Media); Additional Photos – 2021 WABA Champions; JaxForce Pro-Am Season 3 Opener (AllGlory Photo); JaxForce Players in Pro-Am Season 3 (AllGlory Photo); Durante Family 2020 Thanksgiving…Ronnell, Gyree, Seidah, Geniyah, Gabby; JaxForce Logo (designed by Gyree Durante and Mare Whitsett)
