Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9411240001
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S23 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``Now, we've got seven age groups,'' he said, ``and the state is divided into halves, with 30 or 40 teams in each half.''
Bruce has played no small part in the growth of girls' basketball in the state, a contribution acknowledged by the AAU when Bruce recently received the President's National Leadership Award at the annual convention in Tulsa, Okla.
``He puts a lot into it locally, statewide and nationally,'' said Larry Ewing, one of Bruce's fellow coaches in the Roanoke Stars AAU program.
Bruce was the Roanoke Stars' first coach in 1984, when there were only two teams, and remains in charge of the 11-and-under team.
``He was very influential in the 11-and-unders forming nationally,'' said Ewing, Bruce's assistant on the first Stars team. ``When it was first brought up at the national convention, the president was very skeptical and said there wouldn't be enough interest.
``Jan, as one of the officers, said, `You just wait and see.' They decided to try it one time and it got so big that they never gave it a second thought.''
Participation in AAU girls' basketball has grown from 8,000 to 70,000 nationally over the past 10 years.
Bruce, an engineering technical supervisor for the city of Roanoke, has been president of the local girls' AAU and has been an officer at the national and state level. He has coached the 11-and-under Roanoke Stars team as long as there has been one.
His 1987 team finished seventh in the country, but his recent award was not about winning.
``It's who the president [Bobby Dodd] personally feels has made a real contribution,'' Bruce said. ``It's for people who are involved at the grass-roots level. Surely, it's one of the high points for me.''
by CNB