History-Basketball
The Sparks Girls Sports Club, based in
Chester County, PA, was formed in 2001, to develop a non-school
based AAU Girls Basketball Club in Chester County. Our initial
season fielded one mixed basketball team comprised of 12 and 13
year olds and played at the 13U age level. Since that time, we
have steadily grown each year and now comprise 7 teams at the
10U through 16/17U age groups. We field one “A Level” team per
age group. The SPARKS has attracted high caliber basketball
players from throughout Chester County and western Delaware
County and 30 different schools were represented in the 2005
squad. The SPARKS play a very competitive Regional schedule and
in 2004, we began to travel outside the area (Connecticut
through Virginia) to compete against different brands of
basketball to prepare us for the Regional/National qualifier
events.
In 2004, the SPARKS had our
first AAU Girls Basketball National Qualifiers. Our 10&U team
finished 2nd in the MidAtlantic Region and earned a
trip to Orlando, Fla. Our 12&U team finished 1st in
the MidAtlantic Region and played at the Nationals in Nashville,
Tenn.
We concluded a very successful 2005
AAU year with 3 of our teams making their trips to AAU
Nationals in July.
First, the SPARKS 13's competed
successfully in Kansas City beginning July 8 and played teams
from North Carolina, Wisconsin, Missouri, PA (playing Fencor
again and beat them again out at Nationals!) Indiana and
Maryland. Congratulations to Coach Greta Neff and the girls for
a great season! Most of these girls experienced Nationals last
year (2004) for the first time and dedicated their season to get
back in the big arena and they did it! Many of them will be
moving on to high school next year and we look forward to seeing
them compete at area high schools. We also look forward to
seeing them play with us next year and earn a chance to get to
AAU Nationals in Disney. Good Luck girls!
Next, the Mid Atlantic Champion SPARKS 11's
went to Nashville beginning July 15 and did very well, winning
their opening pool (going 3-0) and took their first game in the
Championship Round. In a tough draw, they next faced the North
Carolina Comets and lost a close game to this team. The NC
Comets team eventually won the Tournament and we gave them one
of their best games- they had been blowing out everyone they had
faced! Our girls proved that they are a force to be reckoned
with in the years to come! The girls also played teams from
Louisiana, Tennessee, and two from Maryland. Congratulations to
Coaches Mike Homyak, Tim Govan and Sheila Amodei and all the
girls for a wonderful season. Their final 2005 AAU record was
40-6.
Finally, the SPARKS 15's went to Orlando
and competed at AAU National Headquarters at the Disney Wide
World of Sports Complex. Getting a chance to play in front of
almost 400 Division I, II and III college coaches and scouts was
an awesome experience for these girls! They played teams from
Indiana, Maryland, Western PA, Georgia and South Carolina. We
have received several inquiries about SPARKS players from
college programs as a result. You never know who's watching you
down there! The girls had an opportunity to see Coach Pat Summit
of University of Tennessee fame attend a game before ours at the
main Disney MilkHouse Sports Complex. The competition was
fantastic and the experience was awesome at Disney.
Congratulations to Coach Mary Ann Keenan and the girls for a
super season- what a way to wrap it up!
Girls ages 14-19 receive an opportunity to
attend Nationals at Disney. We can report to the Club that THIS
IS THE EVENT OF THE BASKETBALL YEAR that we should be pointing
to for our older girls. No other Basketball Showcase Tournament
can compare to it. Yes, we will be entering the older girls in
many of the local and regional college showcase events in the
future, but pound for pound, Nationals at Disney attracts
significant college attention and we will continue to point our
efforts to qualifying successfully in the Mid Atlantic
Tournament so that we can get these teams to Nationals in the
future.
These teams collectively raised over
$10,000 to help pay for the cost of their trips to Nationals.
The girls are to be commended for their determination to not let
the cost of their participation at Nationals fall entirely on
their parents. In particular, we would like to thank the WAWA
corporation for their support of our fundraising efforts and
hope that Sparks families will patronize the various WAWA stores
throughout Chester County. We also received significant
contributions from Kelly's Sports, And 1 and Sunrise Assisted
Living and again- your patronage of these organizations would be
appreciated.
In closing, we want to thank everyone for
making 2005 our best year yet and looking forward to a great
2006!
History - Volleyball
In the Fall of 2004, sensing a void in
competitive girls volleyball in Chester County, The Sparks
formed a new division- the Sparks Girls Volleyball Club. Now in
its inaugural season, Sparks Girls Volleyball has fielded 4
teams from 12 years old to 17 years old and is competing in the
Keystone Regional Volleyball Association.
The Difference- Our Coaching We
are proud of our coaching staff in both sports (Volleyball and
Basketball). Our teams are staffed with experienced AAU coaches
and coaches that are currently playing or have past experience
playing on the collegiate level- teaching SPARKS players the
contemporary skills necessary to play today’s game at a high
level. Our older teams compete in tournaments that will showcase
their talents to colleges and universities- and our coaching
staff is ready to help teach your daughter to excel in these
conditions.
