Still Going Strong After 50 Years Of Serving Ohio Valley Youth
Greater Wheeling Small Fry Wrestling League Celebrates Silver Anniversary
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WHEELING - Wrestling is not only a sport, but a valuable teaching tool for individuals, especially youth, in preparing them for life's lessons.
Not many youth organizations can say they've been around for half-a-century, but the Greater Wheeling Small Fry Wrestling League can. It is celebrating its Silver Anniversary this season.
Founded in 1976 by the late Eric Carder and Bill Welker, the GWSFWL is still going strong as it has nearly 200 youth - both boys and girls - competing on eight teams. The ages range from 6 to 11. A third founder, Jack Maynard, also served as the league's first commissioner.
Heading up the organization during its silver anniversary are coaches Sean Doyle and Jesse Blount, along with girls coach Angelica Radevski
"The dedication of the people that surround it," Bount said of the longevity. "This organization has been handed down from generation to generation to generation ... from Sean's grandfather, Sean's dad and now Sean and all of the people who came through here because of their love of the sport."
Doyle, who wrestled at Buckeye Local and Cornell University, started the Wheeling University mat program back in 2013.
"Youth organizations come and go. There is an energetic period that usually fades away. To an area like the Ohio Valley, an organization like this provides hard work ethics," Doyle said. "There have been generations of people who have been impacted through the sport. We have nearly 200 kids in our small fry program.
"One thing we did this year, to make the sport more healthy, was move the starting age up to 6," Doyle explained. "We feel kids are more mature and ready for wrestling. We had 3- and 4-year-olds starting in the past and we found out that wasn't the best thing."
Another new thing is the addition of a girls' program.
"We've had a good smattering of girls over the years. I think there were 10-or-so when Sean and I first got into this three years ago," Blount noted. "We have an entire team in Small Fry and we also have a full team for the Wheeling Wrestling Club."
"Bringing the girls aboard was really important to us," Doyle added. "To have girls that can compete against girls. It's the fastest growing sport in the country from NCAA to high school. So launching our first-ever girls Small Fry team was pretty cool."
Blount said it's nice to watch the kids start and then see how far they go.
"We've seen our developments. There's been peaks and valleys from the number of people we've had in the program," Blount added. "The last couple of years we've had 200 to 220 kids in the program, and for us, it's watching the development of these kids from the love of the sport, not to just go out and chase medals and trophies, but the values of what we are trying to teach them."
Doyle said the large numbers are nice, but it's more than about numbers.
"It's one thing to have 200 kids in your youth program, but do you have 200 in junior high and high school programs? Our objective is not to kill it in youth, it is to make sure we have kids that are performing up to our core values which are to work hard; to be tough; to be a respective young man and/or woman; and to get better. I think those values give you a strong foundation to build your program for 10 to 20 years and beyond, not just a few years."
Both Blount and Doyle grew up in the Wheeling Small Fry program.
"This kind of means something special to us," Blount said. "I wrestled for the Island Little Rascals in 1978. We probably had 35 kids on the team and a set of cheerleader girls. When I moved back to Wheeling, I immediately got involved with my son."
Doyle echoed those thoughts.
"It means a lot. I had a lot of respect for the people that started this organization when I was growing up," he said. "Wrestling has so many relationships engrained. It's like a big family."
Radevski said she's proud to be involved.
"It's unbelievable and it's an honor. This group of young women are literally making history and setting the standard for girls to be able to compete, try something different," she said. "It's important for the girls to start young and to have this large of a group is kind of nerve-racking because nobody has done it yet. None of their friends have. They haven't. So this group can go back to their schools and communities and say what they love about wrestling.
"We have more than 30, so that's a good start."
Kenzi Spielvogel, a 5th grade student at Woodsdale Elementary School, has been wrestling for three years now. She placed fourth in the boys 10U and fifth in the girls 12U last winter at the West Virginia Youth state tournaments.
"Girls should wrestle because it is a sport for everyone. It can make you strong, make you work hard and learn new skills. Wrestling teaches girls to never give up when things get hard. It also makes them believe in themselves and become more confident," she read from her phone.
Blount and Doyle wanted to express their gratitude to the Ohio County Schools for their acceptance of the club.
"We want to express our appreciation for Ohio County Schools in their partnership with the GWSFWL for 50 years that parallels their celebration this year. Without their support the organization would not exist."
The GWSFWL has also partnered with St. Clairsville and Union Local high schools.