Bay Area student Carly Anderson was named Oregon’s winner in the Major League Baseball STAR program.

Anderson, an 11-year-old student at Lighthouse School, is among hundreds of Boys & Girls Club members throughout the country recognized for demonstrating an exceptionally positive attitude in after-school sports, fitness and recreation programs.

The MLB STAR program recognizes club members ages 10 to 18 who lead by example and demonstrate the positive behaviors of sportsmanship, team spirit, achievement and responsibility.

Anderson was nominated for the state award by Denise Gould, the executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Southwestern Oregon.

She received a plaque for being named the winner at the local club. Because she also was named the Oregon state representative for the award, she received a baseball signed by Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan H. “Bud” Selig.

Anderson was one of six people nominated within the Boys & Girls Club of Southwestern Oregon and was selected by Gould for her responses to questions about sportsmanship, teamwork, achievement and responsibility.

She was nominated for the local award by Carolyn Le Grand, the club’s art director.

“During her time at the Boys & Girls Club, Carly has demonstrated a real sense of integrity and willingness to move forward in all areas of personal growth both at the club and at school,” Le Grand said in her letter of recommendation for the state award. “Her positive attitude toward learning and competition makes her both a leader and a supportive team player. Ms. Anderson has an invaluable quality of knowing that in order to succeed one must be responsible and dedicated to any given subject, whether it be sports, art or academic learning.

“Carly has proven herself very capable of leadership and is a positive team player in basketball, volleyball and various other sports. She has encouraged many other club members to want to do their personal best.”

During her question-and-answer session, Anderson said keeping the environment clean is important, and mentioned how she and other students at her old school in Homer, Alaska, started to clean up the town on their own.

“Pretty soon, others at my school joined in and we really started to make a difference in how everything looked,” she said. “Then the adults in the town noticed and they started to pick up trash and clean up the town, too. It was great how we started this in our little town.”

Anderson also talked about becoming a better student because of her desire to be an engineer — to the extent that she now gets perfect grades.

When asked about learning good sportsmanship, Anderson told of being placed on a different youth team than the one she wanted to play for.

“At first, I was disappointed,” she said. “But then I thought to myself that I needed to be a good team member no matter what team I was on. So what I learned was to be a team player and do the best I could do with the team I was on. I also learned to have fun and make it a good time for everyone.”

Anderson plays both basketball and volleyball.

Anderson was Oregon’s nominee for the Pacific Region, but was not chosen to represent the region at the Major League All-Star Game.

The program is in its second year.

“Our relationship with Boys & Girls Clubs of America has enabled us to reach out to a largely undeserved group of young people,” Selig said in a press release. “We started the MLB STAR Award program in 2007 and were pleased with the strong response from youth across the world. We look forward to recognizing more young people this year and helping them establish a strong foundation for a successful future.”

“The MLB STAR Award program allows our clubs to have a positive, lasting impact on our kids as they strive daily to build character, develop their talents and enrich their communities,” said Roxanne Spillett, president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.