June meet features top girls basketball teams

If you're a fan of girls basketball, mark June 7-9 on your calendar. That's when as many as 80 select U.S. teams come to St. Louis for the Battle by the Arch tournament.

The AAU-sanctioned event is among the top 10 invitational tournaments in the country.

Teams in nine different age brackets, from 10-and-under through 18-and-under, will compete. Last year, 17 different states were represented. The teams came from as far away as Texas, Ohio and North Carolina.

Another thing about this meet that makes it very fan-friendly is that admission is free.

The tournament field is so large that six different sites will be used for games. The sites include Flo Valley Community College and St. Louis Christian College along high school gyms at Aquinas Mercy, Pattonville and McClure North in St. Louis and Duchesne High in St. Charles.

Rick Newkirk of the St. Louis Comets select team is the tournament director. In addition to coaching the Comets, Newkirk is girls' basketball coach of the Florissant Valley Community College.

He said fans attending the meet will see many young players who will be on major college teams in coming years. Previous players have gone on to play for top notch programs, such as Coach Pat Summit's Final 4 Tennessee Vols.

Other former AAU players have starred locally with teams such as Washington University's top-notch girls team.

Newkirk said, "As many as 90% of the top players in this tournament will go to major colleges. Some kids get as many as 50 recruiting letters from colleges."

The Battle by the Arch is one of the invitational tournaments that top select teams use to prepare for the summer AAU national meet.

"A lot of the teams coming this year will be in contention in this summer's AAU national tournament," Newkirk said.

Newkirk's Comets will enter three different teams in the 15-and-under category. The Comets' "main" team placed fifth in the 14-and-under nationals last year. Some players on Newkirk's team have been playing together since fourth grade.

One of his players who is attracting considerable attention from college coaches is Katie Dierdorf. She's the daughter of Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Dierdorf. He played tackle for the St. Louis Cardinals.

"I'd think Katie would be one of those players with 50 recruiting letters," Newkirk said.

Although she's a 6-footer, Newkirk said Katie's main strength is that she is "lightning quick."

Young Saint Louis.com featured a story about the Comets in its April edition. To read that article, click here.

Among teams already entered in this year's Battle by the Arch are the Jaguars from Houston, Tex.; the Arkansas Mavericks, the Kansas Belles and the Phantoms from Springfield, Mo.

For more about the tournament and the Comets, you can log on to the team's big website at www.stl-comets.org. You'll be able to update the tournament entries during May by checking this website regularly. Make note of the games you'd like to attend.

The Comets' website also has lots of links to other basketball-related sites.

Competition in the tournament will be in the 10-and-under, 11-and-under, 12-and-under, 13-and-under, 14-and-under, 15-and-under, 16-and-under, 17-and-under and 18-and-under divisions.

There will be from eight to 12 teams in each age division.

All teams will play on Friday. The games start at 9 a.m. and will go on until 9 p.m. Winners advance with the meet's final games Sunday afternoon.

If you want to see some of the best young girl basketball players in the country, this is a good opportunity.