NASHVILLE, Tenn (WTVF) — Being a part of team sports can change the direction of a child's life. That is exactly what one Nashville nonprofit is doing.
Inside Mt Gilead Missionary Baptist Church in Hermitage, there's a spiritual lesson to be learned on never giving up.
It's on the hardwood where the Nashville Starlings volleyball club practices after school and on weekends.
Coach LaKeshia Tinsley grew up playing volleyball in Nashville.
In 1996, she and her mother started a volleyball program for inner-city girls. That program eventually evolved into Starlings Nashville.
Tinsley's husband Mark eventually came on board to help grow the program. As a father of daughters, he is passionate about girls getting the same opportunities as boys when it comes to sports.
"We were in the gym 13 hours last Saturday and 11 hours that Sunday. There's nowhere else I would want to be," Mark Tinsley said.
But what makes this program so special, is the nonprofit doesn't want the cost of being on a team to block these girls' future.
The program opens up club sports to girls who otherwise may not be able to afford it. Thanks to partnerships with local schools and churches, Starlings charge about a third of what other club teams cost.
No girl who wants to work hard is turned away because of what they can or can't afford.
It's one of many reasons why parents wanted their kids on this team.
There are about 3,000 Starlings serving confidence, courage, and strength in more than 75 clubs across the country.
"I actually played for Coach Tinsley when I was younger," says Lillian Nelson.
Now her daughter Nevaeh is in her fifth year as a Starling.
The Starlings are focused on growing girls both on and off the court.
Over the last two decades, more than 100 Nashville Starlings have gone on to play college volleyball. Even more have gone on to be successful young women.
Right now the girls are working hard to raise money. They want to take 2 teams to the Starlings National Championship this summer in California.
The girls need to raise about $30,000 to make that dream come true.
And again they don't want money to keep any girl from going - so if they can't raise enough money for everyone to go - then no one goes.
If you'd like to help them - you can make a tax-deductible donation online.
