The late Shannon K. Quigley Runningbear once wrote about the pleasures of teaching others to write.
"As a community of writers, my students and I are bonded in our continuing journey," she wrote in her professional biography for Long Beach City College, where she taught English. "As any of my former students would confirm, I am willing to do almost anything to assist the discovery and development of their own process of expression."
Runningbear died Jan. 4 of complications related to stomach surgery. The Signal Hill resident's death at age 40 stunned not only LBCC faculty, students and alumni, but a closely knit group of Belmont Shore volleyball players.
The players, known for their regular pickup games on the beach, plan to stage the "Shannon Runningbear Beach Volleyball Tournament" Saturday.
The doubles' tournament aims to combine Runningbear's love of athletics and education. The event will benefit LBCC's S.T.A.R. Basic Skills Learning Community Program.
"She worked a lot of extra hours," said Amy Dwyer, Runningbear's life partner and teammate in doubles volleyball. "The kids loved her. They threw a Christmas party for her in her classroom. I don't know any teachers I would have done that for."
Runningbear, a Redondo Beach native, was widely known on both athletic and academic circuits. She graduated from Redondo Union High School in 1986. She earned her bachelor's degree from UC San Diego in 1991 and her master's from Cal State Dominguez Hills in 1995.
While at UCSD, she was on the women's volleyball national championship team and an all-American in the shotput and discus.
After years of teaching part-time at area colleges, she won a full-time position teaching English at LBCC in 2001. She coached javelin, shotput, and discus at El Camino College.
"Teaching is coaching," Runningbear told the Torrance Daily Breeze in 1999. "The trick is finding the right way to reach each student so that they can learn."
Check in for the tournament begins at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at the courts next to the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool, 4000 E. Olympic Plaza.
The format is men's and women's doubles. Bringing a partner is not necessary, as the event is round robin "pool play," meaning players will be matched with others in their group.
Play begins at 9 a.m. Cost is $35 per person -- cash only.
The tournament fee includes food, but players are asked to bring their own water and drinks.
