Alycia Williams Chase is passing more than just a volleyball to young girls in Baltimore.
Between full-time classes and intense matches as a senior volleyball player at Bowie State University, Williams Chase still finds time to coach two teams at the Baltimore Starlings Volleyball Club ? the same club that taught her how to play the game in ninth grade.
“We created lifelong bonds. I still talk to my coaches from when I was in ninth grade,” Williams Chase said. “The program gives you life skills. You have to deal with people from different backgrounds and learn how to deal with new situations.”
The Baltimore Starlings provides girls in Baltimore City the opportunity to not only train and compete at USA?s Volleyball Junior Olympic level, but also to use volleyball and tutoring programs to gain access tohigher education through scholarships. Williams Chase is the assistant coach for the 14 and under Starlings team, as well as coach for a developmental team at Norrell Park Elementary Middle School.
Bernie Shepard, Sports Program Coordinator at the Parks & People Foundation, has known Williams Chase since she was a freshman at Polytechnic High School. “Alycia is a very rare young lady ? she?s focused and has a real concern and passion for the sport and the girls that she coaches. The girls hate to leave the 14 and under program because they have to leave Alycia.”
Igwe Ijeoma, a 12-year-old student at Old Court Middle School, has been playing with the Starlings for four years. “I like to meet new people, and to travel, and I just like to play the game.”
Williams Chase said mentoring the girls in school is just as important as coaching them in volleyball. “Playing gives the girls an incentive to go to school. Seeing them working hard and striving to excel, that made me want to do even more for them. To see their face when they score a point, or get an A, that?s like my point or A with them.”
Currently pursuing her accounting degree at Bowie, Williams Chase hopes to start studying for her Master?s degree in Women and Leadership right after graduation. She also is thinking about getting her MBA in Business.
And through it all, Williams Chase says, she will continue to coach. “I?m not going anywhere.”
HOW YOU CAN HELP
The Baltimore Starlings are hosting a Serve-A-Thon today at 2 p.m. at Western High School. Supporters can pledge money based on the number of serves the players can make in bounds. Each player will have 100 serves.
The money raised at the Serve-A-Thon will be used to help the Starlings travel to U.S. Junior Olympic Volleyball Association events. For more information, call 410-448-5633, ext. 118.
