President's Corner
Posted Friday, September 5, 2008

Wow, where has the off season gone?  The wildcat leadership committee has been meeting and preparations for the 2008-2009 season are well underway.  We have a number of exciting new things happening this year.  The start date of our practices will be moved up to December 1st for all grade levels.  The season for kindergarten through 2nd grade will end February 18th.  For wrestlers meeting the age requirements for the regional and state tournaments, the season will continue through the state tournament at the end March.

New for this year we will be initiating the Wildcats Veterans Club.  Any Wildcat wrestler that is registering for at least their fourth year in youth wrestling will be recognized as a member of the veterans club.  For their perseverance they will receive a custom embroidered set of warm-up gear.

In addition to the Veterans club, we are also introducing the Iron Man award.  Any wrestler that attends at least one practice session every week for the entire season will receive the special Iron Man award at the end of the season banquet.

Finally, the Wildcat youth tournament has become one the largest and best administered in the state.  The date for the 2009 tournament has been moved up to Sunday January 11, 2009.  There are a variety of reasons for making this move.  The largest one is to line this tournament up with the West Bend High school tournament that will take place the day before.  This should prove to be an exciting weekend of wrestling for the entire West Bend community.  It is important for our parent group to remember that this tournament is the single largest source of revenue for our organization.  We will again host 600-700 wrestlers.  To do this effectively requires over a 100 workers.  On this day we will need all hands on deck.  We thank you in advance for your assistance.

I would like to close with a plea to all wildcat parents.  In recent years our organization has grown to serve nearly 100 kids each year.  During that same period we have added few if any new participants to the volunteer group that administers this organization.  For the last several years the Wildcat Wrestling club has been offered to the West Bend community through the tireless efforts of a small number of volunteer parents.  These special people have demonstrated a notable commitment to the sport, the club, but most of all the kids.  Unfortunately this resource will soon dwindle as the children of these parents transition to high school competition.  If we are unable to backfill these vacancies with new personnel, the future of Wildcat Wrestling will become terribly uncertain.  In addition to allowing your children to benefit from this outstanding program, please consider offering your time and services.  Both Mom’s and Dad’s are welcome and you need have no wrestling experience. 

There are opportunities for everyone.

Looking forward to a wonderful season,

Coach Stark

West Bend Wildcat's Recognized for their Contribution to High School Wrestling Program

Here

During the January 24, 2008 wrestling meet between West Bend East and West Bend West, athletic directors Jeff Rondorf and Dan Retzki gave recognition to the West Bend Booster Club and the Wildcat Wrestling Club for their generous donation towards the purchase of a new dollamur wrestling mat.  The mat came in at a cost of of $8000+ and was a combined financial effort of the West Bend Booster Club , the Wildcat Wrestling Club and the West Bend Athletic Department .  Special thanks was given to the Wildcat Wrestling Club for picking up the mat in Lacrosse and delivering it to the high school.

"Without the efforts of these organizations the West Bend Athletic Department would not be able to provide the equipment and programming needed for our student-athletes" said Rondorf and Retzki.  "Continued partnership with these groups and community based support systems will allow us to sustain and advance athletics in West Bend"