Ripple Effect

It's always amazing to me the effect the simple act of living one's life can have on others. Every time I travel down to San Diego for the Starlings volleyball national tournament, at some point I usually stand back in awe of my club. For the past 12 years we usually have 60-80 girls that are a part of this club because I played volleyball, and from that my dad saw a need for an affordable volleyball club for inner city girls. This time, I got to stand back in awe of my kids, and the ripple effect they had on another club.

Last year at the 18s Gold division finals, Oakland was the only club that stayed around for the match. Since most of the other clubs travel from all over the country, they had to leave early to get back home. My club adopted the San Gabriel team and cheered their hearts out for them. San Gabriel ended up losing the hard fought match, but you'd never know it by the way my kids rallied around them, and the impromptu dance party they threw for the San Gabriel kids.

This year San Gabriel requested us as their sister team. My kids gave them tie-dye t-shirts with "Starlings" written on the front and "Oakland" on the back. The San Gabriel club proudly wore them throughout the tournament during their warm-ups, even when they were playing this year again for the Gold division championship. All San Gabriel's coaches came up to me to express their gratitude for last year and how much it meant to them and their kids. One of the parents came up to me to tell me that he knew last year his daughter was taking the loss pretty hard and he wasn't quite sure how to comfort her. Then on the car ride home his daughter told him that even if she never played another day of volleyball she could be happy simply because of how special the Oakland kids made her feel after that game.

My kids as teenagers probably have no clue how deeply they affected this team, or how much this truly meant to San Gabriel. Whether they realize it or not, they have made friends for life through simply being themselves.