Longtime AAU volunteer passes

ORLANDO, Fla (July 31, 3018) – The AAU mourns the passing of longtime volunteer Paul Gilmer.

Governor of the West Virginia AAU district, Paul was the face of AAU sports in the West Virginia community. He spent more than three decades as president of the Capital City Striders, an AAU track club.

His dedication to the track and field community in West Virginia pushed growth in the sport when it had been on the decline.

Paul coached youth football for the Midwestern Big Blues – recruited by City Striders founder William 'Chip' Ferrell from the Big Blues coaching staff to help him with the Striders – and was president of West Virginia USA Track and Field.

Besides athletics, Paul volunteered for numerous organizations and was a former Senior Vice-President of the United Way of Central West Virginia and executive director of the Community Council of the Kanawha Valley.

Paul served on numerous sport and administrative committees during his tenure with AAU from track & field, wrestling, inline hockey, and football District Director to member of the audit committee, he gave freely of his time in support of the AAU.

In 2003, he was a recipient of the AAU President's Leadership Award for outstanding service to the AAU organization. He will be missed.

To read more about Paul Gilmer's impact on youth sports, see this article in the West Virginia Gazette: Derek Redd: Paul Gilmer Jr.'s death a great loss for youth track and field community.​

A funeral service was held at Grace Bible Church in West Charleston, West Virginia on Wednesday, August 1.  He is buried at Grandview Cemetery in Dunbar.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to either the Capitol City Striders or the Midwestern Big Blues, c/o 424 Washington St. W, Charleston, WV 25302.

Scholarships Are Fine, But Championships Are Better: AAU Nationals Notebook
Article Originally found here.

M.A.T.T.S. Mustangs, a team of Kentucky-based players, drove all the way to the finals of the 17U bracket, where they lost to Team Loaded NC, 71-38.

If you're a longtime fan of AAU basketball, the name of the team's coach, John Adkins, might sound familiar.

Adkins, the former coach of the Tallahassee (FL) Wildcats, has been around this game a while, and the story of M.A.T.T.S. Mustangs is a touching one.

Adkins had established the Wildcats as a national powerhouse, a force on the Adidas AAU circuit (he also coached high school basketball in Florida and at Tallahassee Community College). Then, tragedy struck.

Adkins' son, Matt (who this team is named after), was killed in 2002 by an ex-Wildcat player in a carjacking gone bad.

The experience affected Adkins and his family so deeply that the coach, who owns a trucking company, decided to leave and return to his West Virginia roots.

Since then, coaching his three younger children (who are no longer involved in AAU basketball), Adkins, who lives in West Virginia near the Kentucky border, has made the area home ever since. It's far from the shoe circuit, he admits, but the players are plentiful (and coachable) and with M.A.T.T.S. Mustangs (which stands for Mentoring Athletes Through Team Sports), they've brought some of them to light.

"There's a lot of good talent here," Adkins said. "We don't quite get the athletes we get in Florida, but there are a lot of good players, and they're coachable."

Taveion Hollingsworth, who was one of the top freshman scorers in the country this year (averaging 13.3 points) at Western Kentucky, played for Adkins for three years, leading the Mustangs to a runner-up finish two years ago. Now, they feature Dontaie Allen (class of 2019), a 6-foot-6 wing from Falmouth, KY, with point guard skills (and scholarship offers from Florida, Louisville, and West Virginia) and 6-7 Isaiah Cozart (class of 2019) of Richmond, KY, whom Adkins believes can play at the highest level.

"I think he's a high-major player," Adkins said. "He has mid-major offers. I think he belongs at the highest level, but they don't see it yet."

After 25 years on the circuit, Adkins contacts coaches when he has a player. They don't always listen, as he claims on Hollingsworth, but after a lifetime in basketball, Adkins and M.A.T.T.S. Mustangs are still very much in the game.

"It's nice to see kids in the area get a little respect," Adkins said. "There are a lot of good players in Kentucky and West Virginia that people don't see."

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AAU Volleyball Club Named as 2018 S.T.R.I.V. E Volleyball Club Named as 2018 S.T.R.I.V.E. Organization of the Year

The National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS) and American International Group, Inc. (AIG) are pleased to announce that the Triangle Volleyball Club has been named the 2018 S.T.R.I.V.E. (Sports Teach Respect, Initiative, Values and Excellence) Organization of the Year for its "kids first" approach to safety.

July 26, 2018. The National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS) and American International Group, Inc. (AIG) are pleased to announce that the Triangle Volleyball Club has been named the 2018 S.T.R.I.V.E. (Sports Teach Respect, Initiative, Values and Excellence) Organization of the Year for its "kids first" approach to safety.

Triangle Volleyball Club serves the triangle area of North Carolina: Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. They are being honored for their dedication to embrace the belief that there is no reason to do what we do each and every day if one does not recognize the very power participation in sports has to shape and develop young people of character, capitalize on the power of the youth sport experience to teach life's lessons, and prepare them for life beyond the court.

Presented by NCYS and sponsored by AIG, the STRIVE Award for Organization of the Year, now in its seventh year, honors youth and amateur sports organizations that demonstrate a heartfelt passion, an enthusiastic commitment and a contagious spirit to help kids succeed in amateur youth sports activities while keeping young athletes safe. The NCYS and its sponsor AIG are inspired by the extraordinary quality of the finalists programs.

Triangle Volleyball Club's comprehensive injury prevention program priorities are to: invest in your gym space to provide a safer training environment; identify areas of fundamental weakness or propensity for injury in their athletes and educate athletes on how to improve their basic movement and mobility; educate athletes on how to care for their bodies considering nutrition, hydration, age-appropriate strength and conditioning, and active rest and recovery methods; and provide services to identify and prevent overuse-type injuries.

"The AAU is proud of all the coaches, parents and athletes who make up Triangle Volleyball Club," said. Dr. Roger J. Goudy, AAU President/CEO. "We look forward to continuing to see them out at AAU events in the future."

They are also being recognized for the essential emphasis placed on the health and safety of their athletes as their top priority while also competing at the very highest level of girls' junior club volleyball. We appreciate Triangle's commitment to educate the whole person through excellence in the sport of volleyball. Furthermore, we respect your inclusion of service projects working with disabled (veterans and young people) through sitting volleyball. And we find meaningful value that Triangle is considered a leader in the US for adaptive sitting volleyball development and outreach.

The search for the 2018 STRIVE Organization of the Year Award winner began in March 2018 with a nomination period calling for youth and amateur sports organizations that have implemented at least three health and safety initiatives within their organization. During the 22-days of online voting during the month of June the general public voted for their favorite Organization of the Year on the NCYS STRIVE Award website to determine the winning organization from the top five finalists. Each finalist organization is a hero in its own right as they genuinely live up to the program name of S.T.R.I.V.E. and all that it represents.

The other four of the "Five for STRIVE" finalists are:

"With special thanks to the NCYS sponsor AIG, this award recognizes an organizations' commitment to kids' health, wellness and safety, demonstrating to young people that Sports Teach Respect, Initiative, Values and Excellence (S.T.R.I.V.E.) in a safe, fun, positive environment," said Wayne B. Moss, Executive Director of NCYS. "Triangle Volleyball Club offers up the whole star-studded package with an impressive program of good character development and an extraordinary variety of essential safety procedures. They are clearly building the youth of today into leaders of tomorrow." Moss continues, "They have a model program that balances the importance of life skills and sport skills. We are certain they will continue to advance the vital role these inspiring qualities play for a positive youth sports experience in a safer, more wholesome society."

"AIG is delighted that Triangle Volleyball Club has been named as the recipient of the 2018 S.T.R.I.V.E. Organization of the Year. The organization is committed to implementing safe, responsible and dependable best practices, policies and procedures, as well as a positive culture, esteem values and a high standard of behavior," said Katie McGrath, Head of Specialty and Sponsor Solutions at AIG. "We are proud to help honor an organization dedicated to the success and safety of young athletes on and off the playing field and help bring greater awareness to the positive benefits of amateur youth sports."

The S.T.R.I.V.E. Award for Organization of the Year will be presented to Triangle Volleyball Club at a date and location to be determined.

About The National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS)

Founded in 1979, the National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS) membership represents more than 220 organizations/corporations serving 60,000,000 registered participants in organized amateur youth sports programs. NCYS is well-known for its advocacy in promoting healthy lifestyles and safe environments for stronger neighborhoods and communities.

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