May 27, 2003

     Seven years ago, when Tiffany DeRosa, Jennifer Dabrowski and Brianne Edwards walked into the St. Francis Middle School gym in New Britain, they had no idea what was in store for them.
     That first Amateur Athletic Union practice quickly turned into years of memories, friendships and growth, both on and off the court.
     After making history as the first three female basketball players to win seven straight Connecticut AAU state championships, DeRosa, Dabrowski and Edwards are enjoying every last minute of their final season as members of the Connecticut Starters.
     "I’m going to miss AAU," Dabrowski said. "I’ve made a lot of friends through AAU, and I never would have thought that we would have won seven championships and been together this long. It’s been great."
     It all started in 1997, when they entered the gym as 10-year-olds to try out for the Connecticut Starters.
     Eighty girls were present and just 12 were selected.
     "That was back in the day," DeRosa said, laughing. "Walking into the first practice was crazy. You walked in and there were all these people that you had never seen before. We were so young. You see people from other towns that you had never seen before and all of a sudden those are your teammates."
     While players and coaches came and went over the years, Dabrowski, Edwards and DeRosa somehow stayed together.
     "We just kept winning," Dabrowski said. "It was like, ‘Wow, what if we win it all our years? Has anyone ever done that before?’ But we never really thought about it. We just thought it would be neat."
     And neat it was. With a 58-33 win over Starters West at Yale on May 3, they became the first players in Connecticut AAU history to accomplish the feat.
     "It’s an awesome feeling," DeRosa said, "because it’s hard to say that there’s going to be anyone else that will ever do it. Looks like we’re going to be in history for a while."
     In fact, with the establishment of more and more AAU programs in the state, the likelihood of three players staying on the same team for seven years and winning the state championship each year is remote.
     "The three of us just stuck together," DeRosa said. "People came on and off the team, but we were the basic core that stayed together. It’s like a big family. These people have been my friends since I was 10 years old. It’s awesome to have people like that."
     Not only are the memories great, but all three girls attested to experiencing drastic improvements to their individual games.
     Dabrowski plays high school basketball for Plainville, Edwards is a member of the Suffield Academy team, and DeRosa is a three-year starter at Hamden.
     "I think it’s completely helped me fundamentally," DeRosa said. "It’s helped me become faster and stronger. It’s completely different than high school because the players around you are all so good that it makes you play better."
     And as they complete their AAU careers this summer, DeRosa, Dabrowski and Edwards have made a bond that all AAU players, past and present, can understand. And leaving their mark in history has been an added bonus.
     "I think we share something that the other people can’t really understand because we’ve been together so long," DeRosa said. "I have so much respect for them as people and as players. It has been awesome."