|
Sparks
Girls Basketball Club Has 3 Teams Qualify for AAU Nationals!
The
Chester County based club’s 15, 13 and 11 year old teams
advance.
West
Chester, PA- May 31, 2005---
The Sparks Girls Basketball Club announced today that three of
its teams, the 15 year old, the 13 year old and the 11 year old
teams, have advanced from the Middle Atlantic Regional
Tournament to represent the Chester County Area at the Girls
National AAU Tournaments to be held this Summer. The 11 year
old team came in first place in the Middle Atlantic Tournament
11 & under age group held May 13-15 in Northeast Philadelphia.
The 13 year old squad came in third place in their age bracket
held in Marlton, NJ May 1-2. And the 15 year girls finished 3rd
in the Regional for their age group held in Delaware County May
6-8. The Middle Atlantic Region of the Amateur Athletic Union
(AAU) covers Pennsylvania east of Harrisburg, New Jersey and
Delaware. These teams will now travel to Nashville, Tennessee,
Kansas City, Missouri and Orlando, Florida to compete against
the other qualifying teams from around the country.
The
Sparks, now in
only its fifth year, has rapidly become one of the leading AAU
Girls basketball clubs in the Philadelphia area. This year, the
club fielded teams for girls 10 through 16 years of age. All of
its teams performed well in their Regional Qualifying
Tournaments and this year the club has played an expanded East
Coast schedule including trips to Connecticut, New York,
Northern and Central New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia to gain
experience against other brands of basketball.
Sparks
teams are comprised of girls from throughout Chester County
(Kennett /West Grove, Coatesville/Downingtown, West Chester/
Exton/Lionville, Paoli/Great Valley) and western Delaware County.
Over 30 different area schools are attended by Sparks’s
players. The Sparks staffs its teams with coaches
who are recent college players and graduate assistants to offer
Sparks players an opportunity to learn contemporary skills
necessary for today’s game. This years coaching staff included
former West Chester University players Kiesha Mack (West Chester
University’s all time Women’s leading point scorer and the
prestigious Al Carino Basketball Club’s Woman Player of the Year
for 2005), Greta Neff (coach of the Sparks 13yr old Regional
Qualifier and Assistant Girls Basketball coach at Downingtown
West High School), and Marissa Baum. Other coaches this year
include former UConn standout Colleen Carney, Mike Homyak, head
coach of the Regional Champion 11 year old squad, Mary Ann
Keenan- head coach of the National Qualifying 15 year old squad
and a former girls basketball coach at Cardinal O’Hara High
School and now Freshman Girls Coach at Bishop Shanahan High
School, Sheila Amodei, Tim Govan, Mike Hopton, Reggie Wade (WVU
’93-’95 men’s team) and Steve Perry, a long time area basketball
official in Chester County.
All of the
Sparks teams will be in action over the next few weeks as they
complete the regular AAU Season. For more information, you can
visit the Sparks website at
www.sparksgirlsports.com or contact Bob Burg or Marty Sandos
of The Sparks at 610-692-2553 or via email at
sparksaaubball@aol.com.
|
