The Black Star Line All-Star Swim Team village is an Oakland-based organization established to encourage the participation of African-American youth in the sport of swimming. Our goals are to encourage youth to utilize swimming as a recreational activity, to maintain a healthy lifestyle and to develop competitive drive and  determination.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVE

Our team consists of accomplished young athletes that participate in either year-round or seasonal swim teams.  During Oakland Citywide Championships held in August 2005, several of our swimmers established new citywide record times.  Our primary objective is to send young swimmers of Afrikan Ancestry to compete in Black swim meets outside of the borders of California.

Through financial support of sponsors, fund-raising activities and families, we sent 27 swimmers to compete in the 20th Annual Historical Black Swim Meet in February 2006. This meet was held in Washington, DC which was sponsored by the DC Parks and Recreations and the Black United Fund.

MISSION STATEMENT

Our mission is to encourage children of Afrikan Ancestry in the Bay Area to learn, participate and compete as swimmers on a national level as an official team.

Historically, children of Afrikan Ancestry have not embraced swimming as a professional sport within our culture nor community. On the west coast, the limited number of Afrikan neighborhoods magnifies this phenomenon. In addition to the existence of very few professional swimming coaches of Afrikan Ancestry, there are a limited number of swimming coaches who are willing to commit to the development of our children as competitive swimmers.  There is a general lack of a fundamental understanding of the significance of inspiring our children to reach beyond the mere recreational aspect of swimming.