Pirate Wrestling Club Start-Up
Donation protected
Hello there! You've made it this far, and so it would be totally cool if you kept going and read about our story!
My name is Justin Miller. I grew up for almost my entire life in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, so I went to Birch Grove Elementary, Brooklyn Junior High, and then graduated from Park Center High School. My wife and I, and our two children live in Brooklyn Center, and I work as a Special Education Support Staff Member at Park Center High School as well as having the incredibly humbling privilege of being the Head Wrestling Coach there. I've been coaching wrestling for 8 years now. I love this area (if that's not already obvious), and I have a passion and vision for seeing sports opportunities expand here so that the kids in this community can thrive and reap the numerous benefits they offer.
By the age of 9 I was itching to play sports. When fliers came home with me from elementary school promoting BPAA youth football, I quickly joined. Five years later as a 7th grader I heard about [real] wrestling for the first time ever! I honestly had no clue what it was! I went on to wrestle for 6 years as a Park Center Pirate because I fell in love with the sport, and during those years I often found myself boggled that I hadn't discovered wrestling sooner in life. I wished I had. The thing about this experience of mine is that it's not just mine. Truly just about every single Park Center wrestler I've ever known in the past sixteen years has echoed this exact same sentiment. "I wish I knew about wrestling sooner".
I believe one of the main reasons this "wish I knew sooner" thought is so prevalent among the Pirate Wrestlers is because there hasn't been a wrestling club for the youth of the Park Center area for well over two decades! This 12 square mile area includes 10 elementary schools and 2 entire middle schools with literally thousands of kids! (Did you know that district 279 had to cut ALL sports at the middle school level almost 10 years ago???) There's been a drought. There's been no advertising, no fliers going home, and no education about wrestling because there's been no club and therefore no opportunity. Maybe this isn't as big a deal as I'm making it out to be, but I have personally experienced the positive, life-changing impact that wrestling offers to young people, and I'd like to at least be able to present kids with a legitimate option. Even so, I'm sure you can probably relate to having valuable experiences with sports, if not for yourself personally than at least for a friend, family member, or student.
The Pirate Wrestling Club is here and ready to fill a much needed gap! Our program will offer year-round opportunities for kindergarten through 12th graders to enjoy one of the world's oldest, most well-established and life-changing sports. In this crucial stage of planning our biggest need is that of funding.
Donations will be made to the Park Center Wrestling Booster Club, and from there we will be using 100% of the proceeds from this campaign to launch the first full season of the Pirate Wrestling Club this upcoming winter, as well as for the maintenance of the program moving forward. The proceeds will help pay for advertising, permits, rental fees, memberships, coaching, equipment, facilities, apparel, and help for the numerous low-income families in this area.
Our vision for the Pirate Wrestling Club is that it will be both affordable and widely accessible. We have a goal and plan for reaching young people by the dozens, and hundreds, and thousands into the future with a fun, confidence-building, value-infusing sports experience. I honestly believe this is possible, and I'm confident that down the road I'll have far fewer wrestlers telling me they "wish they knew about it sooner". And so now we are humbly asking you to join us in our cause. Please consider giving a financial gift! Any amount, small or large, from $1.00 on up to whatever you may be compelled to give, will be received with joy! Your sacrifice will be truly and deeply appreciated.
This has genuinely been a dream of mine for a long time now, and to see things finally coming to fruition is almost unbelievable for me. I'm excited, extremely grateful, and full of appreciation for your time, considerations, sacrifices, and donations!
Thank you,
Justin Miller
PS -- Here are a few pictures from our trial run with the Pirate Wrestling Club this spring 2017. We offered a FREE 8-week session. We had very minimal adverstising in a short amount of time, and yet we were able to gather over 40 registered participants! We're excited to see what kind of impact we can make with proper planning and funding!
My name is Justin Miller. I grew up for almost my entire life in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, so I went to Birch Grove Elementary, Brooklyn Junior High, and then graduated from Park Center High School. My wife and I, and our two children live in Brooklyn Center, and I work as a Special Education Support Staff Member at Park Center High School as well as having the incredibly humbling privilege of being the Head Wrestling Coach there. I've been coaching wrestling for 8 years now. I love this area (if that's not already obvious), and I have a passion and vision for seeing sports opportunities expand here so that the kids in this community can thrive and reap the numerous benefits they offer.
By the age of 9 I was itching to play sports. When fliers came home with me from elementary school promoting BPAA youth football, I quickly joined. Five years later as a 7th grader I heard about [real] wrestling for the first time ever! I honestly had no clue what it was! I went on to wrestle for 6 years as a Park Center Pirate because I fell in love with the sport, and during those years I often found myself boggled that I hadn't discovered wrestling sooner in life. I wished I had. The thing about this experience of mine is that it's not just mine. Truly just about every single Park Center wrestler I've ever known in the past sixteen years has echoed this exact same sentiment. "I wish I knew about wrestling sooner".
I believe one of the main reasons this "wish I knew sooner" thought is so prevalent among the Pirate Wrestlers is because there hasn't been a wrestling club for the youth of the Park Center area for well over two decades! This 12 square mile area includes 10 elementary schools and 2 entire middle schools with literally thousands of kids! (Did you know that district 279 had to cut ALL sports at the middle school level almost 10 years ago???) There's been a drought. There's been no advertising, no fliers going home, and no education about wrestling because there's been no club and therefore no opportunity. Maybe this isn't as big a deal as I'm making it out to be, but I have personally experienced the positive, life-changing impact that wrestling offers to young people, and I'd like to at least be able to present kids with a legitimate option. Even so, I'm sure you can probably relate to having valuable experiences with sports, if not for yourself personally than at least for a friend, family member, or student.
The Pirate Wrestling Club is here and ready to fill a much needed gap! Our program will offer year-round opportunities for kindergarten through 12th graders to enjoy one of the world's oldest, most well-established and life-changing sports. In this crucial stage of planning our biggest need is that of funding.
Donations will be made to the Park Center Wrestling Booster Club, and from there we will be using 100% of the proceeds from this campaign to launch the first full season of the Pirate Wrestling Club this upcoming winter, as well as for the maintenance of the program moving forward. The proceeds will help pay for advertising, permits, rental fees, memberships, coaching, equipment, facilities, apparel, and help for the numerous low-income families in this area.
Our vision for the Pirate Wrestling Club is that it will be both affordable and widely accessible. We have a goal and plan for reaching young people by the dozens, and hundreds, and thousands into the future with a fun, confidence-building, value-infusing sports experience. I honestly believe this is possible, and I'm confident that down the road I'll have far fewer wrestlers telling me they "wish they knew about it sooner". And so now we are humbly asking you to join us in our cause. Please consider giving a financial gift! Any amount, small or large, from $1.00 on up to whatever you may be compelled to give, will be received with joy! Your sacrifice will be truly and deeply appreciated.
This has genuinely been a dream of mine for a long time now, and to see things finally coming to fruition is almost unbelievable for me. I'm excited, extremely grateful, and full of appreciation for your time, considerations, sacrifices, and donations!
Thank you,
Justin Miller
PS -- Here are a few pictures from our trial run with the Pirate Wrestling Club this spring 2017. We offered a FREE 8-week session. We had very minimal adverstising in a short amount of time, and yet we were able to gather over 40 registered participants! We're excited to see what kind of impact we can make with proper planning and funding!
Organizer
Justin Miller
Organizer
Minneapolis, MN
