CLUB CHAMPIONS Quarterly Report Vol. 1, 2022
WHATS NEW IN 2022! SPRING BREAK!
Basketball League Craig Bukosky Junior Golf Open New Board Members
True Champions As a Club Champion, you represent a COMMITMENT to the youth of the Greater Temple Community. The steadfast commitment of YOU, the CLUB CHAMPION is obvious in the fact that for the second year in a row, the contributions made by our CLUB CHAMPIONS has surpassed the estimated annual contribution. Our CLUB CHAMPIONS are always on time and for the right cause within the youth club. Whether it is supporting fine arts, procuring books for the library, golfing to contribute 100% of your funds to the club, sponsoring for the CMB Jr. Golf Classic or wining and dining on New Year’s Eve to drum up funds, you never let the youth of our community go without. It is this type of philanthropy that allows our programs to remain affordable and of the utmost quality for our youth. The Board of Directors of Ralph Wilson Youth Club are appreciative of your efforts and faith in the youth club.
Spring Break 2022! Ralph Wilson Youth Club hosted a successful 2022 Spring Break. 166 youth participated in the full day program for area youth. Ralph Wilson Youth Club’s spring break program ensures area youth have access to a safe and structured environment during a time they are traditionally in school. The youth club allows parents the comfort of knowing that their children have access to a variety of structured activities to stimulate their minds during the break from school. In addition, the spring break program offered a variety of field trips for youth. Youth had the opportunity to attend trips to Chalk Ridge Falls, Hallmark Lanes bowling, Gatti’s and Wheel’s Family Skating Center.
RWYC Welcomes New Board Members
Ralph Wilson Youth Club welcomes two new members to the organization’s Board of Directors. Christine Parks and Jason Collier are the newest members of our community to embrace the challenge of ensuring Ralph Wilson Youth Club meets and exceeds the needs of the youth of East Bell County. Christine Parks brings an extensive understanding of public education to the Board of Directors. With Ralph Wilson Youth Club’s partnerships with Temple, Belton and Academy school districts, she will assist the Board of Directors in adopting policies and procedures that complement the overall vision and mission of the public education system. Jason Collier’s thorough knowledge of financial concepts will provide increased financial accountability to the Board of Directors. As the Board of Directors moves closer to adopting a Financial Policy, Jason will assist in ensuring the policy is relevant by today’s generally accepted accounting principles. With his financial background, Jason will also play a big role in the monthly review of financial transactions of the youth club.
Cooke captures CMB title! Ralph Wilson Youth Club, in partnership with the Bukosky Family hosted a successful 26th Craig Bukosky Junior Golf Open on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at Wildflower Country Club in Temple, Texas. The event crowned champions in 13 divisions of play. Eighty-nine golfers competed in this year’s event. Chandler Cooke captured the events top prize as he shot an impressive 74 on a challenging Wildflower Country Club course to add his name to the Overall Champions Cup that resides in the clubhouse at Wildflower. Chandler stated at the tournaments end, “This tournament was really the event that got me into competitive golf. I was registered in another tournament, but I wanted to play this tournament.” In another interesting twist, current Ralph Wilson Youth Club member Hayes Pethtel shot an impressive 43 for 9 holes to capture the Boys 7-9 year old division. Hayes stated, “I hit it pretty good and had a good time.” The event made a strong return after not occurring in 2021 due to various reasons related to the pandemic. The outpouring support by the community and the players has reaffirmed that the Craig M. Bukosky Junior Golf Open is needed and desired by our community. The event allows golfers of all ages the opportunity to experience the game of golf on a premiere course at a price point that can’t be matched.
Project "Moonlight"
Moonlight was added to the youth club bus fleet slightly over a year ago. Moonlight was the name chosen by the youth through a competition. Moonlight represented a change for the youth club bus fleet. It was the first bus that did not feature the traditional Wildcat Blue color theme. Moonlight was ordered in snow white with Wildcat Blue trim. Project Moonlight was finally completed recently with the addition of graphics across the entire bus. The theme ‘Our possibilities are endless’, speaks to how the youth club motivates youth. The design was made possible thanks to the work of local marketing agency, Woodward Creative Group. The completed design is truly an eye catcher and serves as a marketing tool to inform the community about Ralph Wilson Youth Club.
2022 Basketball Season Concludes The 2022 RWYC Youth Basketball season recently concluded. The program experienced another recordbreaking season. 988 youth, ranging in age from 5 to 12 participated in the program. 119 teams were distributed across 4 age divisions. 508 games were played over the span of 8 weeks. At the end of the season, 4 champions were crowned.
Basketball Champions
Lady Broncos 12 U Girls
Swifty Sticker 12 U Boys
Jodi Brazeal - Magnolia Realty 10 U Girls
Tyler Jermstad - State Farm 10 U Boys
For over twenty years, Ralph Wilson Youth Club has awarded the Bukosky Sportsmanship Award to a male and female participant in the youth club’s athletic programs. The Bukosky Sportsmanship Award is awarded to athletes that model fairness, positivity and respect towards all players, coaches and officials.
Bukosky Sportsmanship Award
The 2022 male winner of the Bukosky Sportsmanship Award is Juke Larkin. Juke played in the 12U Boys Division. Juke can best be described as a hard working teammate who is always hustling. The female Bukosky Sportsmanship Award has an interesting twist for this year. Twin sisters Layla and Alexa King are the recipients for 2022. Layla and Alexa both participated in the 12U Girls Division. As twins, they share a lot in common, but as student athletes, they share the commonality of respect and sportsmanship.
Layla & Alexa King
Gym upgrades continue!
Juke Larkin
At the conclusion of 2021, the youth club gym floor received a major facelift in the form of a court redesign and refinish. The improvements continued into 2022. The entire lighting system within the gym was replaced with LED light fixtures to improve player visibility for our basketball and volleyball programs. The previous lighting system was functioning at less than 75% of capacity and was compromising player visibility within the gym. The new lighting project ensures that lighting concerns inside the gym are addressed today and the distant future. The continued growth in the athletic program necessitated the lighting project.
Valentines Day @ RWYC!
The City Federation of Women's Clubs of Temple bids farewell... The City Federation of Women’s Club of Temple recently announced its end as a local organization. As the organization liquidated its assets, they made the decision to distribute financial resources to several local organizations. In a ceremony conducted at the Cultural Activities Center, the organization made check presentations to several agencies as the organization brought its illustrious tenure to an end. Ralph Wilson Youth Club was blessed to be the recipient of a contribution in the amount of $10,000. The support that the youth club receives from organizations such as the Temple City Federation of Women’s Club shows the belief of the community in the importance of Ralph Wilson Youth Club. Unexpected contributions such as this enable the youth club to continue to provide a program rich in quality, yet affordable.
Memorial Trees Ralph Wilson Youth Club recently planted a row of Crepe Myrtle trees. The plantings were driven by the desire of the family of the late Arti Polchinski to plant a tree in his honor and the desire of staff at the youth club to recognize the life and memory of Dr. Jack Eberts. Arti was a former summer employee of the youth club, and a longtime supporter of the mission of Ralph Wilson Youth Club. Dr. Eberts was a longstanding member of the Club Champions program. Being a Club Champion represented his long term commitment to the financial sustainability of the youth club. The row of trees is located along the path that youth travel daily during their departure at the end of the day. Memorial plaques will be placed at the base of trees to recognize both gentlemen.
A big part of the mission of Ralph Wilson Youth Club is teaching our kids the right way to interact with their peers, how to overcome challenges and rebound from mistakes. The youth club takes extreme pride in recognizing our youth for their commitment to being exemplary members. This is done by recognizing a Boy and Girl each month of the year. We are proud to share with our loyal supporters the winners of the award for the first quarter of the year.
Bowen Taylor January Boy of the Month
Grace Daulton January Girl of the Month
Kellen Lehnert February Boy of the Month
Julia McCormick February Girl of the Month
Eli Vargas March Boy of the Month
Samiyah Lemus March Girl of the Month
RWYC committed to being a good neighbor Ralph Wilson Youth Club remains committed to being a star neighbor within the valued T-MED District of Temple, Texas. A part of being a good neighbor is doing your part to maintain a curb appeal that reflects positively on our community when visitors and community members traverse the district. To ensure this commitment remains in place, the youth club has invested in landscape improvements that will not only maintain but improve curb appeal. Shrubbery, tree and turf grass projects are all underway for the spring season.