This feature originally appeared in the 2025 Spring edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.

 
The term "student-athlete" is an effective and accurate description of young men and women who engage in both academic and athletic activities, but sometimes it feels as if it falls short of providing the full picture of what many student-athletes bring to the University of California and the surrounding campus community.
 
It may be time to think of a new term for Finley Rollins, a junior on the Cal beach volleyball team. Rollins immediately began making an impact in the community when she arrived in Berkeley as a transfer from UC Davis in the summer of 2023. Rollins had an itch to get acclimated to the Bay Area, and the perfect opportunity came across her phone screen in the form of a group text from head coach Meagan Owusu.
 
"[Owusu] sent a message in our team group chat saying there was a chance to coach youth indoor volleyball if anybody is interested," Rollins said. "Coaching was something I'd done before and I was new to Berkeley at the time, so I thought this can be a fun way to just get to know the community. Why not?"
 
Rollins responded to Owusu's call to action and was put into contact with Starlings Volleyball, USA – a club whose mission is to positively impact the lives of at-risk girls through the sport of volleyball. According to its website, the organization aims "to provide at-risk, disadvantaged youth with equal access to quality volleyball programs, regardless of financial hardship, ethnicity or skill level through exposure to training and participation in the sport of volleyball."
 
According to Rollins, dues for most youth indoor volleyball clubs can range anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 a year depending on their location and competitive status. Starlings offers membership for less than $1,000.
 
The club began in 1996 with a small team of 11 girls in San Diego, and in its 29 years of existence has grown to be the nation's largest junior volleyball club with teams in over 50 cities. Over 40,000 girls have participated and approximately 3,000 participate each year. Over 750 college scholarships have been earned by Starlings players, and the club has a 90% high school graduation rate.
 
What started as a fun, part-time opportunity quickly became a big part of Rollins' life as she took on a larger role than she first expected. Luckily, one of her new teammates, Lara Boos, joined forces with her and several other of her teammates have come on since.
 
"I didn't really know anyone on the team at that time," Rollins said. "Coincidentally, Lara Boos, who was going to be my new roommate at the time, also reached out to Owusu, so we went over there together. We had assumed it was just going to be like just us coaching these girls and that would be that, but we ended up taking on much more responsibilities."
 
In addition to coaching several different teams and age groups, Rollins and Boos began managing the program's calendars and books and became the main point of contact for their teams, which includes being a liaison to parents. The Berkeley branch has between 45 and 50 players across four teams and Rollins oversees practices and competitions as a part of the Northern California Volleyball Association (NVCA).
 
The regular membership dues are not enough to cover the full cost of the operation, so Rollins has also been tasked with fundraising through applying for state and federal grants to afford facility rentals. All of these tasks that have come along with this endeavor have given her a wealth of experience in potential career paths.
 
"I really love coaching, but this experience has taught me so much about business as well," Rollins said. "I really feel like I am running a business at this point, and it's shown me that I would like to have a managerial role. Maybe not in sports specifically, but I am thinking about getting into consulting, client services, or sales now."
 
While she loves coaching and values the experience she's gained from managing a nonprofit organization, the deepest motivation comes from her relationships with the young players.
 
"It's been great to learn all this stuff, but [Boos] and I signed up for it because we've been coaching forever and we wanted to be a mentor for these girls," Rollins said. "The girls that we coached literally became our little sisters. I love them; they're so amazing.
 
"They get volleyball and to see them fall in love with it like I did is so rewarding. They come into the gym as early as possible and stay as late as possible because they really just want to be there with their friends. The parents love that their daughters are enjoying it, too. When my old players see me in the gym, they run up to me and give me a big bear hug and honestly that's my favorite part. It's so worth it."
 
One of the players on Rollins' 12-year-old team, sixth-grader Kora Poirier – who Rollins describes as leader with raw talent and athleticism that's a joy to be around – has truly fallen in love with the game and has gained so much more from the program beyond learning how to dig, set, and swing.
 
"So many of my friends from school kept telling me 'You have to check out Starlings, it's a great club'," Poirier said. "So I decided to give it a shot and I love it. I already had some friends from school on the team, but I've made so many friends with players other schools now."
 
Poirier has had a chance to try different positions and has really fallen in love with serving. She is set on playing for the Berkeley High School team when she graduates from King Middle School in a couple years.
 
"Coach Finley is the best coach that I've ever had," Poirier said. "She's great at motivating, is so supportive of us, and is really good explaining stuff and showing us how to improve. She's our coach but she also feels like friend."
 
According to Kora's father, Julien Poirier, the club has truly been a blessing to their family.
 
"I think it's great - I really appreciate the club being there," Julien Poirier said. "We were sort of at loose ends to find a program and this one seemed so great. It's so diverse and inclusive and financially accessible. Kora had some friends on the team and it's being coached by a Cal student, which I loved. Everything just lined up great."