About Norchester Wildcat Wrestling Club This club was started sixteen years ago with the goal of providing an opportunity and environment for school age children to learn and compete with their peers, in a safe, instructive, sportsmanlike manner with aims to be physically fit and build self-esteem. Over the past few years, the success of our growing program and the achievements of our wrestlers have brought pride and recognition to the organization. Several youngsters have placed high in MAWA (Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Association) District, Regional and Eastern national events. Varsity sports at the high school level have been improved, as children gained experience with our club and move into the middle and high school wrestling programs. Moreover, children that wrestle as Norchester Wildcats benefit from physical conditioning, boosted self-esteem, and focused interaction with other children and qualified coaches. We are financially self-sustaining through registration fees, fundraising and donations. All coaches and officers are volunteers. NWW is a non-profit charitable organization. Donations (beyond registration) from parents, friends and businesses are tax-deductible, and may be targeted for special purposes, such funding an instructional clinic, subsidizing wrestlers' attendance at camps, or purchasing items such as new wrestling mats or team singlets. Wrestling Practices The Norchester Wildcats Wrestling club practices Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 p.m. There may be "blackout" dates when gyms are used for school functions, or dates when groups may switch gyms. Announcements will be made at practices and updates will be made to the HOME PAGE of this website. It is important for wrestlers to attend both nights, every week, for the maximum benefit and continuation of instruction. Always arrive early, so wrestlers are ready on time. A 6:30 p.m. start means coaches begin warm-ups then. Allow extra time for changing shoes, putting on headgear, taking care of paperwork, etc. The NWW coaching staff will assign wrestlers to a "squad" based on their age, size and experience level. The WHITE SQUAD (typically 1st and 2nd year younger wrestlers) practices in the OJR Middle School Auxiliary Gym. The BLACK and RED SQUADS practice in the OJR High School Auxiliary Gym. As coaches become more familiar with the children, and as the season and children progress it is possible that coaches recommend a wrestler move from one squad to another. It is important that parents and wrestlers respect coaches’ decisions; they will always have your child’s total wrestling experience as their primary interest. All parents/guardians must bring their child into the gym for practice, and pick them up from the gym. Do not drop them off at the school door, nor expect the child to wait outside for a ride home. Parents of young or new children should plan to stay in the gym for the duration of practice for the first few weeks, as a comfort to your child and to become familiar with the NWW officers programs, and other parents. Parents choosing to stay in the gym during practice must respect the coaches and prevent distraction by being quiet. Hygiene and Common Sense Wrestling is a close contact sport. If a child has been absent from school due to sickness, or shows signs of illness (fever, rash, cough, upset stomach), do not bring them to practice. If they have indications of a contagious skin condition, do not bring them to practice; seek professional treatment. Keep wrestlers' fingernails short and clean. Clean and cover any open sores or wounds. At the first practice of the season, and periodically thereafter, the coaches will do a "skin check", looking for obvious signs of a contagious skin condition. While it’s true that our coaches are not specifically trained in dermatology, Norchester will play it safe and err on the side of caution to keep our young athletes healthy. If a coach believes your child has symptoms of a contagious skin condition, they may ask your child to leave the mat and sit out during practice. During competition, if our coaches or a referee believes your child's opponent may have a contagious skin condition, we will suggest your child not wrestle that match. Shoes, Headgear and Singlets Each child should have tight-fitting sweats or shorts and T-shirt to wrestle in. For health and safety reasons, we require wrestling shoes or new sneakers, which are clean and to be worn only on the mats, during practices and meets. Do not wear wrestling shoes to, from, or outside of practice, nor practice in your street sneakers. Furthermore, club policy states that wrestlers, coaches and parents may not walk on the mats with street shoes. Each wrestler should bring a water bottle – with his name on it - to every practice. Headgear is strongly recommended for practices and matches; it is mandatory for most tournaments. Like wrestling shoes, headgear may be purchased at local sporting goods retailers or via catalogs. Check the GRAPPLER LINKS page for links to vendors. Each year, the Norchester Wildcat Wrestling Club has provided team wrestling singlets to wear for matches and tournaments. Team singlets may not be worn to practices. Because singlets are expensive, it has become necessary to charge a deposit for each singlet. Deposit checks will be refunded at the end of the season when the singlets are returned in good clean condition. Norchester Competition - Scheduled Matches Wrestling is a very competitive sport that requires participants to practice, drill and compete to become better. The Norchester Wildcats club is a member of the Intercounty Wrestling League (ICWL) and competes in six dual meets with clubs from other areas. The schedule is listed on the CALENDAR page of this web site and is subject to change, so check it often. Since matches are put together in advance of each meet, if your wrestler must miss a meet for any reason (travel, illness, etc.), notify one of the coaches at practice or by phone, as soon as possible. Travel to and from wrestling matches is the responsibility of parents. The club will provide specifics and directions before each meet via this website. Be aware that meets last several hours -- drinks, hot dogs, snacks, and the like are usually sold at snack bars at these meets. Feel free to pack healthy snacks for your children. Norchester Competition - Tournaments Competition builds champions! Throughout the season, tournaments are announced as opportunities for further individual competition; even first-year kids may compete in special novice-only tournaments. While participation in tournaments is strictly optional, and at parents' expense beyond club fees, it is highly recommended. We will consider least two ICWL league tournaments as part of our regular schedule – Conestoga for experienced wrestlers, and Methacton for first-year novices – and qualified wrestlers should plan on participating. (The springtime dates for these tourneys will be announced as they are made available.) Don't hesitate to see one of the coaches to determine which tournaments are best for your child. There may also be opportunities for NWW wrestlers to compete in Dual Meet Tournaments, where NWW sends a "team" to face other "teams". Specifics about the criteria for eligibility to participate in these events will be discussed at the Parent Meetings. As with most other aspects of NWW, information about tournaments and team duals will be posted in the gyms during practices, detailed in email messages, and announced on the NWW website. It is the responsibility of each wrestler's parents or guardians to review the posted and published information on a regular basis. Fundraising To keep registration fees as low as possible, and to enable the club to meet its financial obligations, each wrestling family is required to participate in a fundraiser. In an effort to avoid door-to-door sales and to promote familiarity and unity, the fundraiser this year will be a Beef and Beer style event, as it has been for the past several seasons, slated for an evening in January. Last year, each wrestling family was obligated to sell a minimum of two tickets for this adults-only evening; they also had the option of "buying out". Details will be made available as soon as possible. Communication Two-way communication is important for the NWW family of wrestlers and their families, and coaches and officers. Our primary vehicle for communication will be this website for announcements and reminders, forms, links to other clubs and vendors, information related to matches and tournaments, maps and directions, etc. Remember to also check the gym doors and walls, and/or handouts for announcements, to sign wrestlers up for matches, to receive travel directions, etc. Always feel free to approach an officer or coach with suggestions, questions, or concerns. However, please respect the coaches' time and agenda during practices. Instead of interrupting them, please catch them before or after practice sessions. Questions/Concerns/Comments? Send an email to hello@norchesterwrestling.com |
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