The athletes and coaches of the YRHS amateur wrestling team got some bad news at the end of the 2013/14 high school wrestling season: due to the lack of interest in the sport (the team had just four members) the YRHS and school board were going to drop the program.
鈥淎t the end of last year, because we only had four kids on the team, they were going to cut all of our funding out,鈥� said Paul Kane, the current head coach of the Yorkton Wrestling Club and former volunteer coach with the YRHS Raiders wrestling team. 鈥楽o we weren鈥檛 going to have any funding and basically we weren鈥檛 going to be able to have a team this year if we stayed at the school.鈥�
So left without any other option, Kane, as well as current high school wrestler Clark Hoffman and Clark鈥檚 father Paul Hoffman, decided to take matters into their own hands. 鈥淲hat we did was we formed a wrestling club,鈥� suggested Kane, who is a former amateur wrestler himself, winning multiple Regina City titles as well as the Provincial championship while at high school in Regina (Miller Marauders). 鈥淪o instead of it just being a team for high school kids we鈥檝e opened it up to anyone grade six and higher who wants to try wrestling.鈥�
The move to the club level worked, too. Instead of just four members, the Yorkton Wrestling Club now has 10; three from high school and seven from grades six through eight.
But Kane is aware that having a club with just 10 wrestlers, only one of which is female, is not ideal. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a good start, but we鈥檇 like to have more people join up,鈥� said Kane, adding that females are not only welcomed but encouraged to give wrestling a shot. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great sport for girls as well, they鈥檝e got a separate division to compete in but we鈥檝e only got one girl right now (Katelynne Hoffman) on the team.
鈥淲e鈥檇 certainly like to have more females out for her to wrestle against.鈥�
However, Kane wants to make sure that people completely understand that the wrestling that the Yorkton Wrestling Club offers is Olympic style, not WWE/TNA pro style. 鈥淲hat we offer is Olympic wrestling, which is freestyle wrestling that involves both leg attacks and throws, and is the first and oldest Olympic sport,鈥� offered Kane. 鈥淚t involves essentially trying to expose your opponents back to the mat. That鈥檚 where you鈥檙e going to score points and if you can get both of their shoulders on the mat then that constitutes a fall or a pin resulting in a win.鈥�
In addition to elementary and high school students, the club has garnered interest from other people within the community who are no longer students, but still interested in learning the ins and outs of one of the oldest sports in the world.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had a couple of people come and try it out that are older than the high school age so it鈥檚 open to them as well,鈥� mentioned Kane, continuing, 鈥淭he best way is to either come down to the Yorkton Martial Arts Training Centre and talk to the guys here and they鈥檒l get you set up with it, or you can contact myself or Paul Hoffman (306-782-0043), who is the head of the club here as well.鈥�
