Philadelphia Belles win 68th and 69th Middle Atlantic AAU Championships !
The Philadelphia Belles completed another great season of Middle Atlantic AAU competition winning two more age group chamionships along with qualifying teams in 16 (3), 14 (1), 13 (1) 12 (1) and 11 (1) National AAU Championships to bring the total to 69 MAA championships in 30 years. Seven out of 11 teams qualified for AAU Nationals in 2005 !!
The two MAA age group championship this year came from the 11-under and 13-under divisions. This marks the first time since 1994 that the Belles have won these two age groups in the same year and gave the Belles their fourth 11-under title and ninth 13-under title.
The Belles took a different approach with the 16-under MAA championships by fielding four teams in the age group with two qualifiers (16-Lynch, 3rd place, 16-Paettie, 5th place) coming from the Middle Atlantic AAUs and a third (16-Plakis, 1st place) coming from the May 16-U Super Regional. The Belles 16-Halligan finished 7th at the MAAs in April.
The Belles 15-Boyle group had it's best MAA season ever, winning two games in the MAA Qualifier and finishing 7th place. The Belles 14-Munn finished in their highest position, 4th in their three years of competition in a controversial game with DBL where game rules were not adhered to. The Belles 14-Waples captured their pool in the Division II 14-unders while the Belles 15-Wolk also competed with strong wins in the MAA DII qualifier.
The Belles 13-Creech continued its dominance of the age group with another strong performance in winning the program's 9th age-group crown. The Belles 12s showed strong promised with performances in the Qualifier against teams which went deep into the tournament. The Belles-Flynn team then qualified for the AAU Nationals through the MAA Super Regional. The Belles 11-Battinieri, which started their season with big wins against other MAA teams, battled through the MAA Qualifier to win the Belles first 11-u championship since 1999.
The Belles now move onto competition in the AAU National Championships and the USJN National Championships in July.
A complete list of ALL Middle Atlantic AAU winners from 1976 to the present can be found at: MAA Champions
All text and information on this page are Copyright: Philadelphia Belles, Inc.