Why Baltimore Public Schools

can’t afford a State title

By Anika Stikeleather | November 20, 2024

Championship banners line our high school gyms in many sports. Whether state or city titles there is no question about the lengthy sports legacy in Baltimore City. However grand this championship history is it’s by no means an equitable one. No Baltimore City Public School has ever competed for a state title in volleyball. 

Coach Kendall Peace-Able of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (Poly) has been a critical contributor to Baltimore's modern championship history. As the Girls' Varsity Basketball coach since 2002, her trophy case includes 2 MPSSAA Class 3A State Championships, 12 MPSSAA Regional Championships, 7 Baltimore City Championships, and 4 Coach of the Year Honors. She has produced more than 100 collegiate athletes while maintaining a 100% graduation rate amongst her players. 

Her winning transcend a single sports season. Under her tenure Poly’s Varsity Volleyball program has dominated the city for more than a decade. This season, Coach Peace-Ables’ Engineers secured their 13th straight city title and a number of players have continued at the collegiate level including Division 1 programs such as the University of Delaware, University of New Orleans, and Alabama A&M University. However Coach Peace does not want to conflate her success with the absence of a problem.

“The access parts of it have always been a thing,” Coach Peace-Able said. 

Baltimore, like many cities across the country, is pricing kids out of youth sports. 

A single season of play at Baltimore Elite Volleyball Club for a high school-age player ranges from $3,750 to $2,950 depending on the level of the team. A season at Master Volleyball Academy means similar prices: $3,975 for Select teams, $3,175 for National teams (18s is $2,975), $2,675 for travel teams, and $2,175 for regional teams. 

Club volleyball is adamant according to Peace-Able: “If you don't have the wherewithal, you can't participate.” Peace-Able, who coached at Baltimore Elite for a single season, had high praise for both the quality programming and Club director but recognized it did not serve the larger Baltimore community and left. According to her, Club volleyball for players from Baltimore City is “a huge hindrance to kids who want to play at the college level because of their ability to access formal instruction on a regular basis.” Playing club volleyball is a heavy investment in cash, time, and transportation; an investment many families can’t afford. This has shaped the high school volleyball landscape. 

While Coach Peace-Able continues to chip away at the issue by offering open gyms for her players to get touches in the offseason while adhering to Maryland State coaching guidelines, that restrict coaches from offering instruction in the off season, this is not a long-term solution. She recalls Baltimore Starlings Volleyball, a city club team that offered girls quality coaching for cheaper club fees. Peace does not know why the program left but does know the impact has been felt. 

Peace, who has witnessed a notable shift in volleyball's East Coast popularity over the last 20 years, can not say the same within city limits, rather the opposite, pointing to starlings as an example. 

“You would never think that Poly and Edmondson would be in a five-game battle every year,” Coach Peace-Able said. “So to see those types of things change because the Starlings program is no longer, is huge to me.”

What access means

Starlings Volleyball is a national nonprofit offering volleyball programming in 70 cities and Native American Reservations across the US with more than 40,000 participants. Their goal is to “provide at-risk, disadvantaged youth with equal access to quality volleyball programs, regardless of financial hardship, ethnicity or skill level through exposure to training and participation in the sport of volleyball,” according to their website. 

The Baltimore Starlings, as it existed in the past, gave girls a chance they would not have had otherwise. Tyshae Hunter, a Fredrick Douglass senior in 2017 participated in the program for five years. Her quote is still prominently featured on Starlings’ website:  “I am a senior and would like to play in college. I have met many college coaches and played in many tournaments, but this couldn’t have been possible if it wasn't for the Baltimore Starlings program.”

In 2023 Starlings Volleyball returned to Baltimore City, and in speaking with players it is evident this iteration just like the previous is creating opportunities that otherwise would not have been there. To be clear, Starling Volleyball, USA is a national umbrella for many volleyball organizations and does not make decisions about when and where teams start. Rather, coaches who identify with Starling's mission start teams under their network and in connection with their resources. This most recent iteration of the club was founded by Peace’s former player, Ashley Rogers via instagram @ashbootheone.

Courtney Waters, a sophomore at Baltimore City College, experienced Club volleyball for the first time last year through Starlings. It was clear one school season was enough to spark a passion; “I didn't expect to love playing volleyball this much.” According to Courtney, many of her teammates were experiencing competitive volleyball for the first time. The same can not be said for other city clubs; “I know the girls at Elite, they've been playing for years.” 

Courtney’s dad added how this early age of entry creates yet another hurdle for girls in the city. City club parents have expressed to him an “unsaid thing” and “they kind of want girls to go to certain schools.” These schools are anywhere that's not a Baltimore City Public School. This sense that city girls do not belong in Baltimore club volleyball is not just internalized by parents but by the players. 

“They're looking for certain people because certain people certainly will pay that certain price,” Western High School varsity volleyball player Koren Hood said.

Hood played for junior varsity last year, and this year, the 6 '1 sophomore has played every game for the Doves, Western High School’s varsity team. In speaking with Hood, it is clear her competitive fire existed before volleyball but by her own admission, the Starlings gave her the skills and mental strength to reach where she is today and the foundations to go further. 

“I definitely wouldn't be on varsity today if it wasn't for club,” said Hood. Starlings taught her “how to be more happy” and the growth mindset she hopes to take into a collegiate volleyball career: “It's okay to lose because it really just teaches you things that you need to do better.” 

Hood’s clubmates echo the same positive impact out-of-school volleyball was able to have on them. 

“It's like a safe haven for me,”  Mikella Pickering, another sophomore at Western this year, said. She claimed her coach sees her more after participating in Starlings. Four of her Western teammates played club volleyball for the first time thanks to Starlings. Both Hood and Pickering commented on Poly’s dominance being accredited to their players having more access to club teams. 43% of Poly’s students are economically disadvantaged compared to Western’s 68%, according to an annual survey of American high schools by US News. Additionally, Poly’s student body is significantly more white when compared to Western; 18.8% to 2.5%. 

All of Poly’s recent collegiate players had club volleyball experience prior to being recruited. Elizabeth Sterling, Poly’s starting libero, hopes to follow in their footsteps and hopes Starlings can get her there. 

“Most colleges only look out for people that are in club” Sterling said.

Next College Student Athlete better known as the recruiting platform NCSA states it bluntly on their website. “College coaches primarily recruit club volleyball players” and this is because they are likely to have more experience and a higher level of training by competing in the sport year-round, additionally club players have experienced some of the highest levels of competition by competing with teams across state lines. Even more practically college coaches are able to attend major tournaments and see a number of players at once rather than single high school games. This means “you're missing a whole lot of kids who can potentially be so much better,” according to Sterling.

A house but not a home

In the Sterling household volleyball and family go hand and hand. Elizabeth was introduced to the sport by her older sister, Jhanea, and while the two play on opposite sides of the net for school, both played for Starlings last year. For Elizabeth, what used to be begrudging volleyball practices at the request of her sister, has now become “The one thing that drives me towards the end of the day.”

Elizabeth is grateful for Starlings because through the club she not only bonded with her team but honed her fundamental volleyball skills, improved her mentality, and experienced new competition. 

The Starlings gave underclassmen with desires of collegiate play an opportunity for club play but also afforded players with years of experience the opportunity to play the game they love. Jhanae Sterling has five years of combined volleyball experience through middle school and high school. As a senior reflecting on her time playing “it made me feel more free” and “helped me grow into a more understanding person.” To hear her tell it, this year's Western Doves are a mini family: “Those are my sisters.” 

When asked why play for the Starlings her mother, Simone, answered clearly, “just more affordable.” Adding, “I have two children and I was not spending $5,000, $6,000 on volleyball. You know, club volleyball, unfortunately in the city, it is clearly for a specific clientele.”

Baltimore volleyball is trapped in the vicious cycle of the modern youth sports industrial complex and the clear loser of this system is city residents. Starlings Volleyball has not broken this cycle but rather introduced a small crack, but a crack alone can not solve this problem and consistent progress needs to be maintained before a state Volleyball champion can be crowned in Baltimore City. 

This club season's progress will not be maintained by Starlings Volleyball. In a message linked in the club’s instagram bio, Starlings Baltimore announced, “Due to challenges in securing affordable and consistent gym space, as well as Starling’s commitment to maintaining a maximum price of $850 per athlete” Starlings will have no teams for the 24-25 season. The message ended in certainty, “this is not the end of Starlings Baltimore.”