Dear Hawks Wrestling Parent:

Welcome to the 2010 wrestling season!  The following is basic information to help you and your wrestler(s) during the wrestling season.  Should you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to ask any of the Hawk volunteers or Coach Greg.  We look forward to a great season with you and your child(ren)!    

Practice

1. Practices are Monday thru Thursdays, beginning Wednesday, February 10^th, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm.
2. Monday and Wednesday practices are designated for children 8 years of age and younger. 
3. Tuesday and Thursday practices are designated for children 9 years of age and older and/ or advanced wrestlers, per the coach’s assessment.
4. Practice will be held at South Valley Middle School (385 I.O.O.F. Avenue in Gilroy) in the cafeteria for now.  It may be moved to the gym in the future.  We will keep you posted on any location moves.
5. Please keep the area clean as it is used by the students the following day.  Be courteous and throw your garbage away.
6. Your child will be ready for pick-up at 8:00 pm, although, we encourage parents to stay and watch. Please be prompt or arrange for your child to get home safely.
7. Wrestlers need to bring clean workout clothes every day including socks, undergarment, shorts and t-shirt.  Wrestling shoes and head gear are highly recommended.  Please ask a Hawk Volunteer for information on where to purchase the equipment. (Shoes may be purchased at Big 5 or Sports Authority)
8. There will be breaks given.  Bringing water is encouraged; there will also be beverages for sale during practice for your convenience.
   1. Expect practices to be exciting, yet disciplined.  Your wrestler will need to focus and pay attention in order to learn the basic foundation of wrestling.  Parents can help tremendously in this area by keeping the chatter and visiting to a minimum, allowing Coach Greg and Hawk volunteers to effectively train your children by ensuring they hear and understand all instructions to keep them safe. 

Hygiene

1. Wrestling is a physical contact sport.  You may have to have a talk with your child about good hygiene.  Skin diseases can easily spread into open abrasions and on skin that is not cleaned regularly.  The best preventative is showering as soon as possible after practice.  Please have them shower every night with anti-bacterial soap at home as soon as possible. Head n Shoulders is recommended.  We do a thorough cleaning of the mats before and after every practice.
2. Ringworm is a fungal skin disease producing round scaly patches on the skin, caused by a fungus.
3. Communicable diseases, skin diseases, in particular, are a threat to wrestlers because of constant skin-to-skin contact and repeated minor abrasions. Skin diseases can sweep through a team unless the wrestlers are monitored and treated effectively. Preventative measures are of primary importance and require the cooperation of each wrestler, and very close observation of each coach. Skin diseases can not only hinder a wrestler but also cause him to be disqualified from competition.
4. If we all do our part we can keep the disease from spreading and have a happy ring worm free wrestling year.
5. Plan to have fresh workout clothes for every practice.
6. Plan to use deodorant.
7. Hair needs to be cut above ears and “collar line” or a hair cap will be required.  Fingernails need to be clipped. 

Communication

1. Gilroy Hawks is represented through www.gilroywrestling.com web page where you can get current practice information, tournament information, join the mailing list, and much more.  Most information regarding the program will be transmitted via email and text messages (SMS), so please ensure we have your current email address and / or phone number.
   1. The best way to reach the coach- is by email or phone.  Please feel free to contact any of us if you need more information or an explanation.  Coach Greg can be e-mailed at coachgreg@gilroywresting.com. The following volunteers can be reached via email as well:

Steven, our webmaster, can be reached at webmaster@gilroywrestling.com or steven@gilroywrestling.com.

Jamie@gilroywrestling.com, Michelle@gilroywrestling.com, Jason@gilroywrestling.com

1. Picture day has not yet been scheduled.  It will be announced and an order form will be sent home (and posted on the website) as soon as we have the date.

Competition

1. Equipment – Wrestlers will be able to purchase singlets through the Hawks and an order form will be available soon.
2. Visit http://www.gilroywrestling.com/?cat=26 to get more information on FAQs for tournaments.
3. Appropriate behavior will be expected when attending events/ tournaments, as representatives of the Gilroy Hawks wrestling club.
4. Coach Greg will review his schedule with parents and notify them of which SCVWA (Santa Clara Valley Wrestling Association) tournaments he will be able to attend.

Nutrition

1. Wrestlers will perform and feel better with good nutrition.  Some suggestions include the following:
   1. Eliminate soda, chips, candy, sugary desserts
   2. Eliminate fast food (trans fats … French fries) … Subway is OK.
   3. Supply your food pantry with healthy snacks (wheat pretzels/peanut butter, fruit, cheese, granola bars, fruit juice)
   4. Please try to make some changes for the season and see what happens.

I look forward to working with your wrestler this season.  There are over 50 wrestlers signed up and we expect more to register.  We have some extra adult volunteers ready to help and we have a lot of training to cover before the first match.  Your support with the above information is appreciated.  Please feel free to contact me if I missed something.

Go Hawks!

Greg Varela

Gilroy High Wrestling Head Coach

Here are my quick notes on what is needed:
To check in at every tournament
* USA Wrestling Card
* Birth Certificate
* $10 for each event being wrestled (ie. Freestyle and/or Greco) not $10/match but for the whole day.

Weigh-ins
* A Singlet is necessary for weigh-ins

To wrestle
* Singlet
* Wrestling Shoes
* Good sportsmanship

Some other questions:
* How long does the day last:
Typically a local tournament will last from 7am at registration/weighins till 2 to 5pm depending on the age of your child and number of people registered (The younger children are typically first to start and first to end)

Additional Note:
* Your son/daughter or and you are representing Gilroy Wrestling we encourage everyone to be respectful both on and off the mat (Win or Lose be a good sport). There will be many occasions where all don’t agree with calls made or appreciate the attitude of some other wrestler, coach, parent or official, we need to all do our best to set a good example for the young wrestlers and continue to make our program one we are all proud of.

See you on the mat.

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Location: South Valley Middle School cafeteria.

Time: 6:30pm
8 and under: Monday/Wednesday
9 and over: Tuesday/Thursday

If you have not already signed up you can join our mailing list
Under Hawks Wrstling you can view this seasons freestyle schedule