Grizzly Travel Baseball Tryouts

2016 TEAM TRYOUT INFORMATION

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Sunday, August 2, 2015

Bird Street Park

620 Bird St.

Wadsworth, Ohio 44281

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AGE	SIGN IN	START	FINISH
10U	9:00am	9:30am	11:00am
11U	10:30am	11:00am	12:30pm
12U	12:00pm	12:30pm	2:00pm
13U	1:30pm	2:00pm	3:20pm
14U	3:00pm	3:30pm	5:00pm

 

MANAGERS

10U	Bill Rhoades	330-285-2234	bill_rhoades@frontier.com
11U	Don Hurrle	330-962-9636	hurrlejr@gmail.com
12U	Steve Griffin	330-465-4148	stevegriffin24@gmail.com
13U	Eric Labus	330-635-9620	eric.labus@mtdproducts.com
14U	Rich Egleston	330-604-4896	thecoacheggs@gmail.com

 

4th Annual Poker Fundraiser

4th Annual Texas Hold’em Tournament

Proceeds to benefit 13U Grizzly Travel Baseball

When: Saturday, March 7, 2015
Where: American Legion- Wadsworth, Ohio
129 Main Street- Parking and Entrance in the Rear
Tournament and Dinner are on the 2nd Floor

Lengthened Healing for Young Brains

Study: Younger brains take slightly longer to recover from concussions

Mon, 12/22/2014 - 1:02pm

by Joe Frollo, USA Football

Everyone who has played competitive sports knows that younger bodies tend to bounce back quicker from injuries. With the brain, however, the opposite appears more often to be true.

Dr. Andrew Gregory, a physician in the sports medicine division of the Department of Orthopedics at Vanderbilt University and a member of USA Football’s Medical Advisory Committee, recently completed a systematic review of studies on the topic. He and his colleagues found that the younger a person is, the longer it takes to recover from concussion.

It is important to remember, Gregory said, that while this may sound alarming on the surface, the difference is minimal. Cases show it generally takes adolescents and children one to two days more recover from concussion.

What isn’t minuscule is the discrepancy of attention that concussion receives when it comes to awareness and media coverage.

“The bigger issue is that most of our attention is focused on college and NFL players when we should also be looking at how we take care of children and teens who suffer a concussion,” Gregory said.

All 50 states and Washington, D.C., have passed laws mandating concussion protocols at the high school level. Not all laws are the same, however.

About half require coaches to complete concussion management training at least every other year.

Roughly 25 percent of states extend the law beyond public schools and into private schools and youth athletic leagues. About a dozen states offer immunity to adults who exhibit good-faith efforts in concussion treatment.

Add to these factors that while doctors and certified athletic trainers are mandatory on NFL and NCAA sidelines, only have of U.S. high schools have trainers attend practices and games while no data is available for medical personnel in attendance at the youth level.

“Compare that to the way the NFL and NCAA are addressing concussions,” Gregory said. “We have the strictest measures for the smallest segments of a single sport. We need similar guidelines for the millions of children and teens who play sports in their local communities.”

USA Football’s Heads Up Football program is providing that guidance for the more than 5,500 youth organizations and 750 high schools that signed up for the program in 2014, bringing important health and safety education - including concussion recognition and response – to coaches, parents and players.

Gregory said more research is needed on this topic, especially at the younger levels. The Datalys Center concluded a two-year study earlier this year that examined all injuries at the youth football level. USA Football commissioned the study.   

“USA Football is providing much-needed information, and the fact is we need more,” Gregory said. “When it comes to concussions, their effect and recovery times, we have good data for high school, college and pro. What we need more of is at the youth level.

“And we need these studies done for all sports, not just football. USA Football is providing a model for other sports to copy.” 

Reposted from: USA Football

USA Football Heads UP

Longtime Ohio youth league embraces Heads Up Football

Wed, 06/11/2014 - 9:30am

Bradley Stringfield

Change is rarely met with open arms, even in youth football.

When Rich Egleston, referee commissioner for the All Ohio Youth Football Association, first mentioned the league becoming a part of Heads Up Football, he faced some resistance. Just ask any football coach, at any level, and (most) of them will tell you they already know everything they need to know,” Egleston said.

However, change is something this league has become familiar with during its more than 40 years of existence. The league was founded in the early 1970s under the name Wadsworth Youth Football League. However, after the Suburban Youth Football Association merged with Wadsworth in 2010, the league changed its name to the All Ohio Youth Football Association. In 2013, the league has about 1,200 players – all part of Heads Up Football.

Soon after Egleston’s original discussion with league coaches, an open dialogue formed to find a more credible way to certify newer coaches within the league.

Enter Heads Up Football.

Nearly 2,800 youth leagues signed up for Heads Up Football last year, and 35 high schools across the country piloted the program at that level, taking a comprehensive approach to educating their parents, players, and coaches on proper equipment fitting, concussion awareness, heat and hydration preparedness and Heads Up Tackling techniques.

Egleston, who was a USA Football member prior to leaguewide affiliation, is impressed with the program and what USA Football is doing.“USA Football took all these ideas and all this information, and they put it together and they legitimized it into something that is teachable, defensible, repeatable and documentable,” Egleston said. “Really, it’s to our benefit to adopt this and talk about the terminology and the things that USA Football does … in front of kids, in front of coaches, in front of media and in front of whoever is listening.

”It’s no secret that fewer kids are playing youth football, and while Egleston says his club has not seen a reduction in numbers, the league has.“Less kids are playing,” Egleston said. “They’re choosing to play other sports or choosing to not play at all. I’m aware these are national trends … but I think parents that are legitimately interested in the pros and cons of their (sons and daughters) playing youth football, and (they) want to educate themselves.”

A common misconception about Heads Up Football is that it’s focused solely on tackling and concussions. Educating coaches and parents about properly fitted equipment is just as important, Egleston said.

“When you’re 10, 11 or 12 years old, a pair of shoulder pads and a football helmet aren’t the most comfortable things you’re going to wear in your life,” he said. “It’s not like jumping in your warm bed. There’s a little bit of training and education that needs to go on with the kids and the parents to let them know, ‘Hey, those shoulder pads are going to feel a little bit heavy, and they may be a little bit tight and restrictive the first couple times you wear them. That helmet may feel a little bit snug, but you can’t have it flopping around like a bobble-head either."

”As the league moves into its second season with Heads Up Football, Egleston said he feels the organization is headed in the right direction.“We’re proud of our little league, and we feel like we’re doing the right thing.

As painful as change may be, I feel like we’re doing the right thing, not only for the longevity of the game, but the kids and all the participants that compete against one another in the league.”

Bradley Stringfield Heads Up Football Heads Up Football Success Stories -

See more at: www.usafootball.com

Just wanted to share a letter that the greatest team mom in the history of the game  ... Libby Egleston ... shared with the Wadsworth Grizzly Football family at the conclusion of the 2014 season.

Enjoy ... best in football,

Coach Eggs

To a football parent~
Dear FOOTBALL PARENT,
You dreaded this year’s arrival, but it has come just the same. A year full of promise, but so many “last times.” Over the years you have helped with countless team meals, washed mounds of sweaty uniforms, chauffeured to more early morning practices then you care to remember. You have been top-of-the-world elated when your son has had a good night and endured his deathlike silences when he hasn’t. It is amazing how the family mood bobs with the rhythm of each game. You have laughed, cried, screamed, sulked, pouted, sweat, pulled your hair, bit your nails, bit your tongue, paced, worried, shoved, frowned, and smiled all very gracefully and within a two hour span.
Such is the life of a football parent.
You may not be in on the big play, but you feel the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat right along with your son. You keep your composure when some fan behind you wants your son’s head while the opponent on the field is mashing it into the grass. “Get off him, that's my baby” you’d like to shout! You breathe football at this time of year, especially this time of year when your heart whispers “just a little longer” as the season slides by. You plead and bargain, knowing full well that some other parent on the opponent's team is making their own deal with the Almighty, but you do it anyway, because you no more want it to end than your son does. You do not want to see the desperation in his eyes and the pain on his face as he struggles to put away his childhood dreams. You are helpless in the stands, with no way to make it better.
Is it worth it?
YOU BET IT IS! Every lost game sock, busy Friday night. Every recovering Saturday, every aspirin, every ruined hair do, hot bath, goose bumps, and every obnoxious fan and sports writer you’ve had to tolerate is worth it. The fun isn’t measured by how many times your son gets into the newspaper, the game, or what he does when he gets there. The fun - what makes those trips to the ER for the pigskin stitches all worthwhile, is watching a game, what a sport experience can do to convert your little boy into a young man. Watching him tackle the world and you have a front row seat.
You still see that rambunctious 5 yr old playing football in the yard. You bite your lip and hold back the tears because though you are fiercely proud of the young man he has become, you miss the boy. In fact you mourn for all the little boys. You have watched them grow up together, plot and scheme together, win and lose together. They have raided your kitchen, camped out in your basement, stole your heart. They are blessed with something they will never have again. They know it and you know it. So you pray that wonder will last another game, and then another, because as long as it does, you hang on to a piece of your boy for a bit longer. Watching him walk off that field one last time will be no less painful then giving birth to him all those years ago.
We will miss this group of young men.
We will miss watching them run on to the field like soldiers going to battle, the hi-fives after a great play, the chest slams after a great tackle, the celebrations over a big win and the sober faces after a disappointing loss. We will miss watching the boys we love, play the game they love.....Football.
Anonymous

2015 Travel Baseball Tryouts

 

2015 Grizzly Travel Baseball Tryouts

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Bird Street Park

625 Bird St.

Wadsworth, Ohio 44281

AGE	SIGN IN	START	FINISH
10U	9:00am	9:30am	10:45am
11U	10:30am	11:00am	12:15pm
12U	12:00pm	12:30pm	1:45pm
13U	1:30pm	2:00pm	3:15pm
14U	3:00pm	3:30pm	4:45pm

 

www.grizzlytravelbaseball.com

 

For more information contact Rich Egleston

(330) 604-4896 ... thecoacheggs@gmail.com

 

It Takes a Village

On August 1^st, 2014 Wadsworth Youth Football will award multiple scholarships to recent Wadsworth High School graduates at the 2^nd Annual Scholarship dinner at the Galaxy restaurant.

It has taken a village to accomplish this paramount achievement of giving back and paying forward.
I first became acquainted with Wadsworth Youth Football Booster Club, Inc. in 2004 when my eldest son was 8 years old.  Needless to say, we got him signed up and in the program.  What I did not know, was how strong the Wadsworth Youth Football organization was and how much stronger it would become.

As a self-funded not for profit group, operated solely by volunteers, the Wadsworth Youth Football Booster club has a long history dating back to the early 60’s.  Motivated parents have kept the tradition going strong and growing strong for over 50 years.

As with everything, changes occur over time.  For example, in 2004, the situation was such that that our kids were split into two different teams … the Browns and the Redskins.  Although both teams were supported by the same booster club, the teams practiced in 2 different locations across town from one another.  In 2006, WYF leadership floated the idea of bringing all the teams to the Steiner, High School and Middle school campus for nightly practice.  In cooperation with the school leadership, it came to pass and all of the teams were in the same immediate area each night for practice.  The following season, the team names Browns and Redskins were retired and all youth football players became Grizzlies.  The major point to take away is that we managed to bring all the kids playing youth football together and told them all that they were now Grizzlies.  An idea with motivated people and the support of the village made this significant and positive shift possible.

After such a positive transition, the Grizzlies faced a tough challenge after Wadsworth taxpayers passed a tax levy to fund the construction of the current Wadsworth High School and Community Center campus.  At the time, I was serving on the booster club and I thought … “but we just got here” … “now we have to go somewhere else?”  Yes, we were essentially evicted forever.  It wasn’t like it was just a transition period during construction, it was permanent.  In my opinion the major flaw and lack of visionary thinking by both city and school leaders in the new “Community Campus” is that youth sports were for the most part “deleted” with no plan for integration now or in the future.

In keeping with tradition, the leadership of WYF crafted a plan to migrate to Bird Street Park and develop a playing field in a new portion of the park known as Fieldcrest.  In fairness to the city, Fieldcrest had been earmarked for youth football years before when the adjacent subdivision was initially planned but WYF was never able to secure funding and execute building a game field.  In 2009, WYF boosters worked with the city leaders and were able to build the field and move the entire program to Old Bird, New Bird and Fieldcrest.  The first games were played there in the 2009 season and have been every year since.  In another significant move, WYF launched a flag football program which uses the same facilities each season.  A group of motivated parents met with WYF leadership and decided that WFY should integrate flag football program into the current tackle football program.  Again, the village rises to the occasion and makes a positive impact on the community.

In the fall of 2009, I was fortunate enough to be elected president of the boosters, and one of the first things I wrote down in my goals was to develop a scholarship program. I failed to get this done in my 2 year tenure.  In 2012, some new leadership entered the WYF ranks to fill vacancies.  Fortunately, the new leadership shared a lost vision and was able to create a scholarship fund and successfully executed our first scholarship event in July of 2013.  Once again, the village did not disappoint.  In cooperation with the schools, scholarship criteria was developed and implemented.   Financial commitments from our community were secured with overwhelming support. Now, in the 2^nd year, WYF will award at least 2 scholarships to Wadsworth High School graduates this coming August.

This is just another example of “The Village” taking care of its own and as someone once said, “It takes a Village”