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westvalleyview.com
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This Week
The Voice of the West Valley for 37 years
September 21, 2022
Decorated cop runs LP volleyball club BY DAVID MEDINA
West Valley View Staff Writer
T NEWS .............. 8 ADOT statewide electric vehicle charger plan OK’d
FEATURES ..... 25 West Valley food truck fest supports families
YOUTH .......... 30 Agua Fria calls for election to manage hypergrowth
OPINION ...............10 BUSINESS.............. 16 SPORTS ..................20 CALENDAR ............22 FEATURES ..............23 OBITUARIES ...........28 YOUTH ..................30 CLASSIFIEDS ..........32 WEST
WE
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he Litchfield Park Juniors Volleyball Club isn’t the typical volleyball club. It offers summer and fall camps, but since 2002 the club has dominated the Arizona and national volleyball scene. The success is no surprise, as it starts with its director and founder Rosario Lopez, a retired police officer from West Phoenix. Lopez grew up in the Starlight Park area with his father mostly out of the picture. The neighborhood was rough, and it was easy to get involved with the wrong crowd. He picked up soccer to avoid that, and he quickly learned he had a natural talent for it. Around the age of 10, during a normal soccer session at a park, he met his future father figure and mentor, Peter Duah, a soccer coach from Ghana. Duah asked him to play for him on a team, which proved to be the launching pad for his career. Lopez spent most of his free time play-
The Litchfield Park Juniors Volleyball Club is coached by Rosario Lopez, far right, shown here with Isaiah Lopez, Bianca Acosta, Brianna Quema and Erica Slaysman. (Dennis Murphy/Contributor)
ing soccer with Duah’s team, not only to master his craft but to spend time with Duah. When Lopez was a sophomore at Trevor G. Browne High School, his dad
was permanently out of his life. Lopez said it was then that he truly realized what
Volleyball...continued on page 6
Rwandan man recalls genocide and gifts BY KAILA MELLOS
West Valley View Staff Writer
A
lex Nsengimana spent his early years growing up in Rwanda during the ’90s. Constantly on the move trying to escape genocide, Nsengimana lost many family members and ended up in an orphanage.
“My brother and I, we would run from place to place, from family to family,” said Nsengimana, who visited the Valley to speak about Samaritan’s Purse. “At the end of the genocide, after losing the people that really cared and who were taking care of us at that time, we were put in an orphanage by my aunt.”
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Nsengimana lost faith that anyone would look out for him. While he was at the orphanage, Samaritan’s Purse brought aid to those in need. When Samaritan’s Purse reached the orphanage, it had been supporting Rwanda
Rwandan...continued on page 3
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