11/06/2021
Open workouts are coming in January, and registration on line is all that is needed to participate in the workouts.
Ken Rutan, Dennis Herrmann and Marv Coppess are the directors of Navajo Starlings-SD. We are a non-profit corporation and a registered affiliate of Starlings Volleyball, USA, a national organization. To learn about Starlings, check out https://www.starlings.org Starlings Volleyball, USA 's website. We started out in 2002 with a single 14U team and went by the name of Allied Gardens Starlings. We practiced at the Allied Gardens Rec Center, and our players went to Marvin, Lewis or Pershing. As our club grew, the geographic scope of our players increased, and various practices sites were used we changed our name to Navajo Starlings to better reflect the breath of our club. For various reasons, another name change is in the works. We are in the process of changing our name to Mission Trials Starlings.
We start things out in early to mid-January with free open workouts one day a week on Saturday or Sunday. The workouts are run clinics, last 1.5 – 2.0 hours, with the girls split up by grade. We have a registration/information meeting in February, and close registration the first week of March. At that point we form the teams, and teams have two practices a week in the evenings. Practices run 1.5 – 2.0 hours. Evenings in which we practice are Monday-Thursday. Our anticipated practice sites for the 20222 season are the East County Boys & Girls Club in La Mesa next to Helix HS, Helix HS, and the Joan Kroc Salvation Army Center on University Ave. Often times, two teams in the same age group will share a court during a practice.
In club volleyball, divisions are based upon age (12U, 14U, 16U & 18U). However, at Navajo, with some exception, 12U is for 5th & 6th graders, 14U for 7th & 8th graders, 16U is 9th & 10th graders and 18U is for 11th & 12 graders. Occasionally, we will place a 4th grader or two on a 12U team. At the high school level almost all of the players have some level of volleyball experience, and a vast majority of the girls have played on a high school. In the 12U & 14U level, the range of experience varies anywhere from having never played to girls that have played for many years. With our 8th graders, our girls have I high rate of success in accomplishing their goal of making a high school squad their freshman year. This includes includes 8th graders that were new to the sport when they started with us as an 8th grader.
We do not play in a league format. We play tournaments, which involves pool play, on either a Saturday or Sunday. Teams play three matches in a typical tournament, with each match being best 2 out of 3 sets. A team can play 6-9 sets in a day, and referee one or two matches a day. Tournaments generally last 5-6 hours. Our first tournament will be outdoors on the grass in late March. We will play four tournaments at a 12-court facility at Alliant University located in Scripps Ranch. In late May, we will play a true one day-tournament, the County championships. For these tournaments, with some exceptions, the only participants will be Starlings clubs. This will include Starlings clubs in San Diego County (Navajo/Mission Trials, Eastlake, Mission Bay, Escondido, Rancho Bernardo, Clairemont, Nestor, Spring Valley and Mt. Empire), and Starlings clubs from Salton Sea, Saddleback, Imperial Valley and Tijuana.
The season will end in mid-June with a 3-day National Tournament in San Diego comprised of Starlings clubs from across the country.
It is anticipated that per player season fees at Navajo this year will be $500-$550. A minimum $300 payment is required to complete registration, with the remainder due May 1. For those in financial need, upon completion of a scholarship application, funds can be obtained from the National Club to pay part or all of the fees based upon need. Here is the link to the application: https://www.starlings.org/support . Applications should be emailed to [email protected].
Fees include: uniform shorts; uniform jersey practice t-shirt; and Nationals t-shirt. Sweatshirts are optional.
As noted, our season starts with free open workouts. To participate in the open workouts, all that is needed is to register your player on-line at https://www.starlings.org/sandiego2021, and print the two additional forms noted on the registration page, have them signed and brought to the first workout the player attends. With registering on-line, the player is not committing to play with our club, and the club is not obligated to place a player on a team. However, no additional paperwork will be required to complete the registration process. The only additional registration step will be payment of fees once we commence accepting payments at the registration/information meeting that will be held in February. For various reasons, we cannot guarantee that every player that is fully registered will be placed on a team. However, in our 20 years we have not hard to turn a registered player away.
Once dates are set for our open workouts, notice will go out to all on the club's contact lists for the 2022 season. That list includes all those that played with us last season, those that have registered on-line, which can be done now, and those with whom we have asked to be placed on our contact list for the 2022.
Hope to see your player in the gym in January, and look forward to you and your player being part of the Starlings Family.
Coach Ken
Charlotte, NC area non-profit organization providing for girls 10-18 from all socioeconomic backgrounds and levels of play to train and compete at USA Volleyball's Junior Olympic level.
