It’s that time again! Mariner’s Fanfest has come and gone. Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Spring Training soon. Coaches are getting out their equipment bags and whistles. Baseball is here again!!

This Saturday there is a pre-season warm up day being held at Hazen High School in the gymnasium. This is a chance for players to do some throwing, hitting, and drills prior to the try outs later this month. Anyone interested in coaching needs to bring a copy of their Driver’s License and fill out a volunteer form. The following 2 Saturdays will be player evaluations. All players will need to attend at least 1 player evaluation date if they wish to be placed on a team. Players are allowed to attend both evaluation dates if they wish to be evaluated more than once.

02/04/2012 Saturday       12:00pm to 3:00pm Hazen High School Gym (Pre-Season Warm Up Day)

02/11/2012 Saturday        12:00pm to 3:00pm Hazen High School Gym (First Player Evaluation Date)

02/18/2012 Saturday       12:00pm to 3:00pm Hazen High School Gym (Second Player Evaluation Date)

The Folk Style Wrestling State Championships are scheduled to be held January 28th and 29th at the Hub in Spokane.

HUB Sports Center, 19619 East Cataldo, Liberty Lake, WA  99016

This event is open to all wrestlers that have a valid USA Wrestling card. Unfortunately, there are no walk-ins allowed for the State Championships. Wrestlers must be preregistered by Thursday, January 26th at 5:00 PM. There is a $25.00 event fee that has to be paid at the door.

Saturday, January 28th features the Pee Wee, Bantam, Intermediate and Novice divisions. Sunday, January 29th features the Schoolboy, Schoolgirl, Cadet, Cadet Women, Junior, Junior Women, and Senior divisions. Wrestlers must weigh in the morning of their matches.

I would like to wish all the wrestlers going to the Championships the very best of luck. Have a great time!!

The host Kent Cougars Jr Wrestling program came away with a hard fought team victory in the PCJWL Sub-Division “1B” Tournament. Kent lead the field with 363 points, followed by Bethel 347 points, Orting 213 points, White River 160 points, and Olympia 60 points. Individual wrestlers that finished in the top 4 positions are moving on to the Piece County Jr Wrestling League Division Tournament January 14th in Montesano, WA.

8 & Under Placements

45 lbs:  1st Nathaniel Cortez (Bethel), 2nd Jessie Maris (Orting), 3rd Caleb Evanger (Bethel), 4th Mason Pike (Orting), 5th Drake Williamson (Kent), 6th Logan Knudson (Kent)

50 lbs:  1st Vinicio Hanson (Bethel), 2nd Joey Gartland (Kent), 3rd Buddy Merth (Orting), 4th Adrian Hambly (Olympia), 5th Clayton Qualey (White River), 6th Brayden Tomeselle (Bethel)

54 lbs:  1st Ethan Peterson (Kent), 2nd Enrique Esqvivel (Orting), 3rd Elijah Lundberg (Orting), 4th Wilder Kraght (Kent), 5th Tye Jacobs (White River), 6th Tristen Treadway (Bethel)

58 lbs:  1st Cameron Sonnenfeld (Bethel), 2nd Isaiah Bodhaine (Orting), 3rd Porter Johnson (Bethel), 4th Raymond Jameson (White River), 5th Dominic Gilbertson (Kent), 6th Kyson Knox (Olympia)

63 lbs:  1st J.J. Sandoval (Orting), 2nd Wyatt Ramey (Bethel), 3rd Caden Wagner (Bethel), 4th Chase Campbell (White River), 5th Carson Kohler (White River), 6th Hayden Collins (Kent)

69 lbs:  1st Va’alele Hanson (Bethel), 2nd Nathan Paul (Bethel), 3rd Wyatt Lyver (White River), 4th Julian Hambly (Olympia), 5th Jamel James (Kent), 6th Logan Lisherness (White River)

78 lbs:  1st Ray Colville (White River), 2nd Evan Palady (Kent), 3rd Preston Starr (Bethel), 4th Marshell Justice (Kent), 5th Rio Lewis (Orting), 6th Marvin Eshom (Orting)

90 lbs:  1st Owen Patterson (Bethel), 2nd Evan Ahquin (Orting), 3rd Evan Bakki (Kent)

100 lbs: 1st Toby Peterson (White River), 2nd Brock Penny (Orting)

9 & Over Placements

58 lbs:  1st Nate Bellcourt (Kent), 2nd Donnie Krissak (Bethel), 3rd Yusef Lillie (Kent), 4th Noah Cortez (Bethel), 5th Jayden Hallman (Olympia), 6th Tyson Bartlebrugh (Orting)

63 lbs:  1st Austin Michalski (Kent), 2nd Coty Chabot (Bethel), 3rd Wyatt Schrader (Orting), 4th Gabriel Castro (Kent), 5th Gavin Heath (Bethel), 6th Hayden Linkem (Orting)

66 lbs:  1st Layton Smail (Kent), 2nd Travail Garcia (Kent), 3rd Westin Lyver (White River), 4th Ethan Hobart (Orting), 5th Jermiah Perez (Bethel), 6th Dylan Spader (White River)

69 lbs: 1st Aiden Carroll (Kent), 2nd Devyn Sweem (Bethel) 3rd Sokan Son (Kent), 4th Logan Grandahl (Bethel), 5th Austin Pugh (Orting)

73 lbs:  1st Tyler Smith (Kent), 2nd Gabe Hawthorne (White River), 3rd Brayden Evanger (Bethel), 4th Bryce Benson (Olympia), 5th Zyle Blas (Bethel), 6th Carter Thomas (Orting)

77 lbs:  Nathan Smith (Olympia), 2nd Gar Rodside (Bethel), 3rd Hunter Prida (Olympia), 4th Hunter Behnke (Orting), 5th Jared Rodarte (White River), 6th Calob Shores (Kent)

81 lbs:  1st Jake Treece (Kent), 2nd Cohen Cleek (Orting), 3rd Colby Kurle (Bethel), 4th Kobe Tran (Orting), 5th Angel Perez (Bethel), 6th Austin Quinonez (Kent)

86 lbs:  1st John Shores (Kent), 2nd Kidder McKee (Kent), 3rd Chad Simonson (Bethel), 4th Cooper Franklin (White River), 5th Devyn Hager (White River), 6th Kody Michael (Orting)

91 lbs:  1st Ryan Redford (White River), 2nd Masen Fend (Kent), 3rd Max Wheeler (White River), 4th Quinton Scott (Kent), 5th Ty Potter (Orting), 6th Chat Bradley (Bethel)

96 lbs:  1st Andy Sandhu (Kent), 2nd Jacob Ellefson (White River), 3rd Chase Sienkiewicz (Bethel), 4th Cole Phillips (White River), 5th Kameron McKee (Kent), 6th Jonah Bruce (Orting)

103 lbs:  1st Nate Moore (White River), 2nd Lane Holland (Bethel), 3rd Jake Porter (Bethel), 4th D.J. Gilcrist (Orting), 5th John McBride (White River), 6th Aftab Sandhu (Kent)

110 lbs:  1st Kione Gill (Kent), 2nd Chris Sparks (Bethel), 3rd Erin Redford (White River), 4th Christopher Stromberg (Kent), 5th Quinton Lyver (White River), 6th Richard Hallman (Olympia)

120 lbs:  1st Zak Carroll (Kent), 2nd Noah Morse (Kent), 3rd Austin Smith (Orting), 4th Marco Quintero (Bethel), 5th Dominic Mills (Bethel), 6th Marlin Raleigh (Olympia)

145 lbs:  1st Donte Springsteen (Bethel), 2nd Kohlton Budnick (Orting), 3rd Joshua Gonzales (Kent), 4th Kyle Bushman (Bethel), 5th Carlos Eqvivel (Orting), 6th Eric Campbell (White River)

175 lbs:  1st Diego Gallegos (Kent), 2nd Kenny Maril (Bethel), 3rd Chase Heath (Orting), 4th Ian Guile (Orting)

Flyers have gone home with KSD students for the upcoming 2012 Dos FC Jr Academy Program. The program is open to all boys and girls that were born between 8/1/2002 through 8/1/2005. There will be free Academy Sessions and Assessments held on Wednesday, January 18th & Thursday, January 19th from 6:30-7:30 at Starfire Sports (14800 Starfire Way, Tukwila, WA  98188).

These U8 & U9 RCL Spring League Teams will train Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning Tuesday, January 24th at Starfire Sports and Wilson Playfields. The cost to play is $350, which includes both game jersey and practice shirt. Coaches for Dos FC will be Lyndsey Patterson, Jillian Nicks, Dennis Pichette, Malia Arrant, and Dan Drew.

Parents interested in additional information or registering their child can find more information at www.dosfc.com.

The Kent Cougars Jr Wrestling Club will be hosting the PCJWL Sub-Division “1B” Tournament on January 7th, 2012. The tournament will be held at Kentwood High School, located at 25800 164th Ave SE, Covington, WA  98042. The tournament will feature teams from Kent, Bethel, Olympia, Orting, and White River. The cost of admission is $2/ person or $5/ family. The action kicks off at 10 AM. The top 4 wrestlers in each bracket will receive a medal and advance to the Division Tournament to be held on January 14th. Concessions will be available all day and special sub-division t-shirts will be available for purchase. I would encourage everyone to go out and support a wrestler!

The Kent Cougars Jr Wrestling team welcomed in the New Year after participating in the 2011 Rising Star Wrestling Tournament held in Buckly, WA on December 31st. The Rising Star Tournament is an opportunity for kids not able to compete with more experienced wrestlers to gain much needed experience in a tournament setting. It prepares these wrestlers to advance their skills as they prepare for the next season.

The Cougars took an entourage of 19 wrestlers to the tournament, and had a very good showing in the tournament. Five year old Chase Baker was the stand out of the tournament, only allowing 2 points to be scored against him, and taking 1st place in his bracket. Anthony Delvo showed great persistence and posted his first win of the season!

I want to congratulate all of the wrestlers that participated. As always, if you have information and photos about your Jr Sports Organization, please forward me the information.

1st Place Finishers:  Gunner Cronuer, Chase Baker, Adrian Enciso, Elijah Garcia, Hunter Kraght, Nathan Gartland & Tony Heimann

2nd Place Finishers:  Elliana Enciso, Dominic Kremer, Paris Smith & Colton Baker

3rd Place Finishers:  Porter Smith, Caden Loudermilk, Anthony Delvo, Andres Enciso, Avery Smith, Ivy Kraght & Sebastion Delvo

4th Place Finishers:  Colton Gueck

Happy Holidays!

As our thoughts turn to the holidays, we begin to think about friends, family, parties, presents, and of course lots of great FOOD (and some not so good LOL)! As adults, we tend to worry about the dreaded pounds we will pack on during the holiday season. In reality, studies have shown that the average adult only gains 1, single, solitary pound. Now whether that is due to a fear of overindulgence, hitting the gym extra hard, or avoiding the awful fruit cake your crazy “cat lady” aunt tries to serve you every year remains up for debate.

With youth athletes, the fear of weight gain is less of an issue. What we want to do is try to limit the amount of sweets that your child consumes at one time. When kids load up on the sweets, we tend to see short bursts of hyperactivity, soon followed by the crash that inevitably happens when the sugar wears off. This type of binge eating can lead to some weight gain, upset stomachs, and certainly can lead to unhealthy eating habits.

One way to ensure better nutrition during this holiday season is to encourage your children to graze on small amounts of food throughout the day, instead of gorging on large meals or sugary plates. Along with the cookies, candies, caramel corn, and other sweets, try to put out plates of healthier finger foods. Some great choices are carrots with dip, sliced apple wedges, orange slices, celery with peanut butter & raisins, pickles of any kind, black olives, and of course nuts. The grazing effect increases the metabolism, and helps balance the sugar high that often manifests itself at the worst possible moment, such as a the Christmas party at your boss’ home that is not child proofed (exposed Chihuly glass works)!

If you have managed to survive all of the awkward and uncomfortable work parties, loud family gatherings, or subdued intimate affairs, you will need to get the kids to bed in plenty of time for Santa to make the rounds. Some homeopathic suggestions that will help soothe your athlete and encourage sleep are as follows: 8 oz of pure cherry juice, warm milk, or hot chocolate made with real milk. These drink choices help the body increase melatonin, the natural chemical that the brain releases to induce sleep.

While there are not that many followers….yet, I would like to wish all of you a happy, healthy, and safe Holiday Season. I look forward to a great New Year.

Sincerely,

Todd Smith

Dear Parents, Family, and Coaches of Junior Athletes,

My name is Todd Smith. I am married with 6 children. I’m a small business man and coach. Our kids participate in local football, baseball, softball, track, and wrestling organizations. As parents, my wife and I were saddened when the Kent Reporter was forced to stop covering and publishing stories about our youth athletes. As transplants to Washington, we loved being able to clip pictures and stories to send to family & friends so they could stay informed of the kids activities. While it’s not the same as a true newspaper clipping, I would like to thank the Kent Reporter for providing me the opportunity to create a blog dedicated to junior sports in the South Puget Sound area. Grandparents can once again see their grandchildren in action!

I’m inviting all parents, family members, and coaches of junior athletes to send me information about their organization, games, and players. Share with all of us your scores, photos, game summaries, and organizational notices. Let’s hear what is important to you. Show your pride in your athletes, coaches, and organization. I would love to make this blog a meaningful on-line meeting place that you can share with family and friends.

I can provide coverage from my viewpoint, but I can’t begin to know about all of the organizations in the area. Please get involved and have your organization represented. Additionally, you may see some editorial content and interviews from time-to-time. If you have a topic you would like me to cover, send me an email to let me know. I look forward to meeting many of you and making new friends.

Todd Smith