Another year successfully completed! Awesome games from all teams. Thank you for your participation! Visit Bud Keegan Images to get pictures from the tournament for keepsakes. Below is the First State Orthopaedics Cup Champions - St. Frances Academy, Baltimore, MD.
About Us The Diamond State Classic is a high school girls' varsity basketball tournament held annually from December 27 through December 30. A non-profit organization, the Diamond State Classic Foundation is dedicated to raising scholarship money to award to qualifying and deserving graduating senior high school female athletes in the state of Delaware, Special Olympics Delaware, the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation, and other Delaware charities. Over the past 19 years of operation, we have awarded over $925,000 in scholarships and grants.
Sponsored by the Diamond State Classic Foundation, and hosted by Saint Elizabeth High School, the tournament is operated and run primarily by IAABO Board #11 active and retired members, and other dedicated individuals who volunteer their time and services. Corporate sponsors have generously supported our efforts to provide a quality experience for all teams participating in the Diamond State Classic.
Starting as a 4-team tournament back in 1991, our mission has grown along with the number of participating teams. We started with the primary desire to provide the girls basketball teams of Delaware with the opportunity to play some competitive teams they normally would not have had the opportunity to play, and to provide those participating teams with a scholarship to award to one of the girls.
We now have 24 participating teams from all over the country - still giving our Delaware girls the experience of playing teams they would not otherwise have the opportunity to play. However, instead of giving a scholarship to each participating team, we provide, as stated above, each DIAA member high school in the state of Delaware with a scholarship to award to a graduating senior female athlete. Did we mention there are 40+ high schools in DIAA? We have also reached out to other worthy charities such as the Special Olympics Delaware, B+ Foundation, AI DuPont Childrens' Hospital and other charities as funds are available. Unfortunately, based on this year's economic stresses caused by the last minute pull-out of a major sponsor and another cup sponsor, we may have to modify the way we disperse our scholarships for spring of 2009. We will keep you updated on that...
Some of our sponsors were with us from the early days - Avon Products, Inc., and First State Orthopaedics came on as sponsors for our second season. First State Orthopaedics has been with us since! Others have joined the team for a few seasons and for various reasons - usually economic - have left. Most sponsors, we are happy to say, proudly stay with us, wanting to participate in our dedication to our young women and children - as we continue "Shooting for Brighter Futures."
