Throughout the years the Club has looked for ways to "give back" and to help others in need.  It was an easy choice when looking at how this Family has contributed to our own community, and more personally, to Yorkville Wrestling over the years.  

A donation to the Darnell Family of Yorkville was an obvious choice.  Dad Shane, was the Head Coach for the Yorkville High School Wrestling team for 6 years, leaving that position to take care of his son Hunter's needs.  In 2009 Shane brought his team to a finish of "State Runner Up" as well as winning the award for "High School Coach of the Year."  Mom Tracy, has been an educator in Yorkville, leaving her teaching job years ago to be Hunter's full-time caregiver.  
Hunter Darnell, is 6 years old and was born prematurely with hypoplastic left heart syndrome.  The left side of his heart did not grow and he spent the first month of life in the hospital.  To date, Hunter has had 12 heart surgeries and 2 hip surgeries. During what would have been his last surgery, they cut his right atrium, and he lost oxygen to the brain for 18 minutes.  He now has traumatic brain injury due to the lack of oxygen.  He is currently wheelchair-bound and has lost most of his independence.  “We are happy to donate (over $1500) towards the financial responsibility for a wheel-chair accessible van for the Darnell Family.  Our proceeds from our 50/50 and additional collections today during our tournament will also be added to this total,” said Chad Stevens President of Yorkville Wrestling Club.

Yorkville Wrestling Club prides itself not only on the quality of wrestling with our kids and instruction from our amazing coaches, but also on building character and leadership skills for our athletes. Tonight we took time to "give back" at a great organization who sends food to malnourished children across the world.

Our wYc Families packaged almost 21,000 meals at "Feed My Starving Children". This amount will feed 57 children for an entire year. Thank you to all who took time out of your lives to help others tonight.

To my son/daughter,

"You had a tough time on the mat today and the ride home was pretty quiet. I admit I was very disappointed but I later came to realize that I shouldn’t be and that it is all part of the journey you are taking.
When I watch you on the mat I worry that you are doing battle while unprepared and that I have failed in your preparation. As a father that is my greatest fear, that you are unprepared to face the challenges that will come before you. I want you to be prepared for your match, but I’ve come to realize that it is the matches themselves that, are in the long run, win or lose, the things that ARE preparing you.
I think that the greatest benefit from wrestling is learning to face challenges and to demand the most from yourself. You learn to fight when you think there is no more fight left within you. You learn to get up after you’ve fallen, time and time again. You learn about sacrifice and about pain. You learn to endure and to overcome. This is what I want for you, not because I wrestled, but because these lessons are the true gifts of this sport. So, those losses today were actually part of this gift, and an important part of the journey.
My dream for you is to not just win championships and fill your room with medals. My dream for you is much greater and I hope you get much more from wrestling. I hope you learn to strive for greatness even if you fail in the attempt. I hope you learn to get up one more time when you think you can’t get up any longer. I hope you learn to not only face your fears, but to stare them down.
Wrestling isn’t about winning. It is about the desire to win. It isn’t about success, but rather the determination to succeed. I want you to succeed as a wrestler, not to win state championships, but I want you to be a successful wrestler so you learn to be all that you can. This sport can help teach you that, if you let it. I look forward to the seasons of our future as you go through these lessons and I’ll be in your corner for each and every one of them. I love you".