Coach: Dave Vennergrund

Dave Vennergrund (Coach V.) has been a youth coach in northern Virginia for ten years and dozens of seasons. He coaches players K-12 in basketball, baseball, and soccer.  As past president of Southwestern basketball in Centreville VA, Coach V has a broad perspective on youth sports. As the current commissioner for Southwestern Select teams, Coach V understands what it takes to develop student-athletes. While his Select teams have won several championships, Coach V. is focused on the development of fundamental basketball skills; first in the individual, then in a team setting.

Coach V's goals for this AAU team are to build a foundation of solid basketball skills, develop every player, and grow as a team.  This team will practice two nights a week and play in tournaments nearly every weekend starting in March. Our goal is to qualify for the AAU 9 and Under National Championships to be held in August, 2004.

Contact Coach Vennergrund via e-mail at:  davevennergrund@msn.com

• Team News Congratulations to the Fairfax Stars Boys 9 Gold team on another successful weekend.  The boys won their age group at the ELAM Invitational in Ashburn, Virginia.  And congratulations to Mitchell Carroll on his selection to the All-Tournament team.  Pool games started Friday night (June 11) . The Stars played well against Stars club mates the Boys 9 White team on Friday. Both teams worked on man-to-man skills. The White ran a nice full-court press against the Gold team, but Gold moved the ball up-court very well. On Saturday against a scrappy Severn team, the Stars team found themselves in a tight spot. At halftime the Stars held a strong lead but the Severn team roared back in the second half with an aggressive, physically punishing man-to-man full-court defense.  The Stars lost one player to fouls and finished the game with 5 players, but fought bravely to hold on and win the game.  In the medal round the Stars faced Fairfax Stars Maroon team. The Maroon Stars fought a good battle, while the Stars Gold worked on offensive movement and worked on the skill of changing defenses on the fly.  The win put the Stars Gold team into the Championship game versus host team, Elam.  The game started well for the Stars, but in the second half, ELAM was able to break the press and score, seemingly without effort. To change the momentum, the Stars dropped back into an aggressive 2-3 zone and stopped ELAM cold. Great passing, defense, and teamwork carried the day.   The Stars look forward to playing in the Fairfax Stars Tournament this weekend !!  Go STARS !!! ______________________________________________________________________ What a great weekend of basketball !  The Fairfax Stars Boys 9 Gold team competed in the Potomac Valley AAU Regional Qualifying Tournament over the weekend in PG County. The Stars started pool play on Friday night in a low scoring game against the Slam-n-Jam Silver team.  The Stars came out cold and missed many, many open shots. Down by 13 points late in the second half, the team put on the full-court press. It worked, generating many steals and points in transition. The Stars closed the gap and had the ball with 9 seconds and down by 2 points. That's where it ended and the Stars began pool play with one loss. On Saturday morning at 9:00 AM, the Star came out aggressive and the full court press worked like magic. The Stars destroyed the PG Jammers for it's first Pool victory. Now on a roll, the Stars took out the Main Event Cobras in the afternoon with another game of awesome defense and pressing. Now sitting with a 2-1 pool record, the Stars needed to defeat the undefeated Bowie Magic on Sunday to qualify for the medal round. The Stars came out hard against Bowie; they continued to press with great success. The first half was all Stars. Great defense, great press, and incredible passing. However, the second half was emotionally draining as the Bowin Magic whittled away at the lead and tied the game.  But the Stars would not give up and fought back to take the lead and win by 2 points !  The win produced a 3-way tie for first place in the pool. After the tie-breaker was applied the Stars had 30 points, Slam-n-Jam 25, and Magic 23. The Stars won their pool.  Next -- the medal round. The Stars opened cold against "Sky's the Limit" and fell behind fast. Their lead was 10 points through most of the game. The Stars press was not as effective and our energy was spent. After a great pool round, the team was unable to sustain the energy that had carried the previous three games.  All-in-all a very good tournament and a nice showing for the Gold team. Congratulations to all of the players who stepped up to the next level at this tournament. As a team we grew an inch or two over the weekend. Great job boys. Parents, thanks again for your time and energy and continued support of the team.   Coach V. ____________________________________________________________________ The Fairfax Stars Boys 9 Gold team took to the road again this weekend with a tournament in Newport News, Virginia.  The competition was strong and the Stars did their best with a new roster. In pool play on Saturday, the Stars played well against the strong Team Richmond. But Team Richmond was able to beat the press and scored many points in transition. In game two on Saturday the Stars got break-out performances from several players, but still came up short in a very close game. The Hampton Hoyas took the Stars in a defensive battle. The Stars offense just could not get started. On Sunday, with a full line-up in place, the Stars welcomed new post Daniel Powers to the team - they needed him. The opposing Norfolk team put four players in taller than our biggest post. The Stars worked hard to overcome many first half turnovers, but with only 3 points of offense in the second half, the efforts came up short.  The team did well with a strong man-to-man full-court defense in the second half. In every game the players worked the ball well, broke the press, and passed well.  Next week we will prepare for the PV AAU regional tournament which begin 5/7... It's time to work on our shooting game! ______________________________________________________________________ The Fairfax Stars Boys 9 Gold team continues to improve it's game and YBOA record as well.  The Stars won their second YBOA State qualifying tournament with resounding victories over the Elam Jaguars and club-mate Fairfax Stars Maroon.  Congratulations to all of the players as they improved their overall team play (great passing) and individual accomplishments. Congratulations to Will Ferguson and Zack Burnett on their selection as All-tournament players. Both did a great job setting up teammates and pestering the opponents in strong defensive sets. The team properly executed the full court press, and ran the floor well -- scoring many points in transition.  The team learned how mix up defenses and working hard to change them in the course of the game. Overall the boys came to play and left with championship ribbons and iron ... Congratulations Stars players and parents ____________________________________________________________________ The Boys 9 Gold team hit the road last weekend (March 26-27) to compete in the Baltimore Stars Coast to Coast Tournament.  The competition was first rate, with quality teams from DC, Maryland, NY, and Virginia.  The Stars opened the weekend with a victory over the host team, the Baltimore Stars late Friday night. The Fairfax Stars started fast with an aggressive and effective full-court press. The pace slowed in the second half a bit, and Baltimore closed the gap but failed to catch our Gold team. On Saturday afternoon, the Stars played a talented team from New York City.  The Stars began with another text-book execution of the full-court press and took an early lead. However, NYC was deep and patient, and in the end, overtook our team with good shooting, passing, and an aggressive man-to-man full court press that stymied our offense.  Now in the losers bracket, the Stars played another Baltimore powerhouse, Chick Webb, at 6:00 PM. The Stars started flat and were down by 13 points before kicking into gear with a blistering half-court trap defense. After many steals and fast breaks, the Stars were on top and stayed on top.  The third game of the day started at 9:30 PM against a strong Bentalou team.  The Stars were unable to score for several minutes and the press did not hold.  A switch to man-to-man in the second half created many steals and scoring opportunities, but not enough to close the gap. For the weekend the Stars finished 2 and 2 with wins over quality Baltimore clubs and a 4th place finish overall in a quality tournament. The team continues to improve and add tools to its defensive options.   The Stars will play in another YBOA State-qualifying tournament in Alexandria this weekend, April 3 & 4. _____________________________________________________________________ The Boys 9 Gold team played its second tournament over the March 20-21 weekend. The team played a YBOA State Qualifying tournament held in Alexandria, Virginia. The team played very well. They won three games on Saturday against club-mates, the Fairfax Stars Maroon, Martinsville Magic, and Impact Youth from Queens, NY. The full-court press and half-court defense were outstanding -- the Stars held it's opponents to under 20 points each game. Offensively, the Stars we able to move the ball and find the open man. Our team spirit was very high and the team was ready to play in the championship game on Sunday. Facing Impact Youth for the second time in two days, the Stars started a bit sloppy, but managed to finish quite strong and claim first place in the tournament.  Congratulations to the team and to William Ferguson and Michael Marson on being selected tournament MVP players.   Next weekend we travel to Baltimore for an AAU tournament sponsored by the Baltimore Stars. Games will be played in BOYS LATIN, GILMAN, MCDONOGH & ST.PAUL'S Schools. Watch out Stars, here come the Stars ... ===================================================== The Fairfax Stars Boys 9 Gold team played it's first AAU tournament this weekend at the East Coast Clash in Sterling, Virginia.  The team came out fast and aggressive late Friday night with a strong press against the Elam Jaguars.  The press was very effective; the Stars picked up many steals and scored a significant number of points in transition to win their opening game. On Saturday, the Stars faced the fast and aggressive Slam-n-Jam. The tempo was fast paced. The Stars press could not slow down the Slammers. First loss for Stars. Now a 2-seed in pool play, the Stars faced a 1-seed in the Bowie Magic, a team they faced and lost to twice in the winter Beltway League. The third time was a charm for the Stars, as they came from behind two times to defeat the Bowie Magic. Now in the championship game the Stars faced the Slammers one more time. The Stars broke the press well, and the half-court defense was strong, but in the end, the Stars could generate very little offense. At the end of the weekend, the Stars finished second out of seven teams, and went home with a "runner-up" trophy for the shelf.   With four practices and four games under our belts, the Stars look forward to a season of growth and victories. Our next tournament will be Saturday, March 20th in the Virginia YBOA State Qualifying Tournaments in Alexandria, VA.