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Beginning with a single inner-city San Diego team in 1996, today Starlings is the largest Junior Volleyball Club in the nation─serving some 3,000 girls in 51 clubs across America. Clubs stretch from New York City to Kauai, from Portland to Phoenix, Arizona. The guiding concept has been to provide an opportunity for girls (ages 10 to18) to participate regardless of their socioeconomic background. Club dues, if any, are a fraction of most Junior Club costs and no girl is turned away because of inability to pay. The Starlings philosophy is a holistic one: competition is good but sports should also be fun. Finally, an athlete should seek to develop all her talents and for this reason, we proudly promote our annual Literary/Art Contest. Since its inception, over 200 girls have received collegiate volleyball scholarships. STARLINGS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WITH "HELP HAITI" THEME DRAWS 132 TEAMS
On the court, City of LA 18, Ridgecrest 14 Purple and
UC San Diego 12 brought first-ever Gold Division Championships to their clubs.
Perennial powerhouse San Gabriel kept its reputation intact as its 16 Red team
took home the gold medal. STARLINGS ADOPTING CAMPAIGN FOR CHILDREN IN HAITI
This year's annual Literary/Art Contest will feature as its theme: "What a Starling Can Do for the Children of Haiti" CLUB DIRECTORS NATIONAL CONVENTION, 2010
The Tod and John Show: Featured speakers Some of the 50 Starlings club directors Over 50 attendees came to San Diego on December 12 for the annual Directors National Convention while many others participated through a live Webinar. Representatives from new clubs were welcomed and inspired by reports made by veteran club directors. The agenda included such topics as national tournament, fundraising and coaching philosophy. One of the highlights was the presentation by featured speaker John Kessel, Director of Membership Development & Disabled Programs for USA Volleyball, of a new USAV-sponsored grassroots program, Starkidz. Other presenters were Tod Mattox, Michelle Brittain-Watts and Liz Mayta. RECORD-BREAKING 148 TEAMS AT 2009 STARLINGS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Starlings teamwork Opening ceremony: the DJ turned the music up and the dancing was on
They came from places like New York City, Philadelphia,
Nashville, Houston, Oakland, the Navajo reservations of Arizona. Over four
days (June 18-21), some 1,500 Starlings girls played, danced, laughed, and froliced
at the famous beaches of San Diego at the 12th annual event.
The fun began at the Opening
Ceremony where teams marched in waving club banners, met their Sister Teams,
applauded for the announced winners of the Literary/Art Contest (click on
Literary/Art button),
and listened to Olympic gold medalist and breast cancer survivor, Deena
Schmidt, give a riveting talk on awareness and prevention of the disease.
Perfect pass from Tuba City (AZ) Deena Schmidt waves to the crowd Houston Starlings at opening ceremony Fierce competition revealed a new power in the Starlings club of Omaha, winning both the 18s and 14s Gold Division titles. Capturing first place in the 14s Gold Division was South Bay (Carson, CA) and the youngsters of Shonto (AZ) walked with the 12s gold medals. Saturday night featured USAV's High Perfornance Coordinator, Heath Hoke, conducting a tryout for over 100 Starlings girls while Starlings national coaching director, Tod Mattox, led a coaching clinic featuring guest speaker, Jim Stone, head coach of Ohio State.
The
following is a poem awarded First Place in the Literary/Art Contest (7th and
8th grade division). This years theme was:
I am Starling BREVARD COUNTY (FL) GETS FIRST WIN
The
Brevard County Starlings club won it's first major tournament in early March,
2010, at the OVA/AAU Spring Fling held in Orlando, This is their third year
participating in the event and every year has seen improvemnet. This years
crew played "13 and under" with only four true 13s
1,000 STARLINGS FIGHTING BREAST CANCER IN SAN DIEGO
LITTLEST STARLING
OMAHA STARLING WINS FULL RIDE TO GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY
Dorothy Brown is all smiles as is her coach and director of the Omaha Starlings, Shannon Walker IN MEMORY OF NOEMI ("NEMO") PEREZ With great sadness, we recently learned of the passing of former Starlings player and coach, Noemi Perez. On February 8, Nemo was returning from a Sunday of studying at CSU Bakersfield where she was an 18-year-old freshman. A daughter of immigrant farm workers, she was a star athlete, exceptional scholar and the first of her seven siblings to attend college. On the road to her hometown of Arvin, tragically she was the victim of a drunk driver. Below is a message from her Starlings club that speaks for the entire Starlings family:
"I am so proud to be part of an organization that is so
supportive, and caring. We have received support and kind words from all over
the country, and we are so incredibly grateful. The kind words have meant so
much. The Starlings family is like no other....may everyone continue to
encourage their young Volleyball players to become another generation of
Noemi's.... kind, smart, positive, uplifting, inspirational, and happy
young women. The world will be a better place. It was a joy having known
her, and to see the affect she had on the people around her. She will be
missed, but never forgotten."
2009 DIRECTORS CONVENTION HELD VIA WEBINAR For the first time, directors of Starlings clubs assembled in cyberspace for their annual convention. The three-hour Webinar took place on Saturday, January 10, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm PST. Featured presenters were John Kessel of USA Volleyball and Tod Mattox, Starlings National Coaching Director. Starlings Executive Director, Byron Shewman, oversaw the Webinar. Exciting technological advances of Webinars plus current challenges in the economy, such as travel/accomodation costs, were significant factors in the decision to host the Webinar. A range of topics were presented including National Championship, fundraising, website building, grass-roots programs, coaching philosophy, and drills. Club directors were able to send typed questions over the internet during the Webinar and answers were given live via phone. The following new clubs welcomed: Houston, Charlotte (NC), Green Valley Ranch (Denver), Chicago North Shore, Hacienda Heights (CA), Santa Ana (CA) and Central Phoenix. UNITED STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE GRANT LAUNCHES GRASSROOTS PROGRAM
The USOC recently awarded a $10,000 grant to develop grassroots programs in low-income areas. "Little Starlings" programs were initiated during the fall of 2008 in four cities: Indianapolis, Oakland, Bakersfield, and San Diego. Several hundred girls were introduced to volleyball at elementary schools over 10 weeks. Over 300 girls were enlisted for weekly training and competition. STAR-LIGHTS: RECENT HAPPENINGS & NEWS ARTICLES
"Youth Volleyball: Putting a shine on all the hot
days, carwashes"
"Starlings Shine in
Volleyball": Brevard County (Florida) Starlings
"In the Community": Starlings
Volleyball Clubs
Arizona Starlings Paradise
Bakery 4th quarter Report
"Starring the Starlings": Bakersfield
volleyball club keeps girls on right track with teamwork, sportsmanship
"Volleyball visitors reach out to poor of Tijuana":
2008 National Championships
"Marriage Unites, Volleyball Divides": Starlings
husband's and wife's teams play each other Below are some winning art entries from past contests. This year's winners are listed on the Literary/Art page.
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