Page 4 Portland Observer Thuraday, September 28 1978
Wrestling program stresses participation
by B ill Schaefer
Roy Pittman considers participation more important than winning.
*
Because Roy Pittman and Mark
Sprague shared the views that maybe
w inning w asn't everything after
all, an e xtra o rd in a rily successful
wrestling program has blossomed at
Peninsula Park.
The program for grade school and
junior high school youth has been so
successful, in fact, that three o f its
participants are world champions.
Why the program began six years
ago — without any assurance o f suc
cess — was explained by Pittman.
“ Mark and I had this idea that it
would be nice to have a program for
kids who were kind of small, you
know , too sm all fo r fo o tb a ll,
basketball and some o f the other
traditional sports,” he said. “ Well,
M a rk, who used to wrestle fo r
Washington High School, has a son
who’s kind o f small so we thought it
m ight be a good idea to start a
wrestling program in the smaller
weight brackets.”
Pittman and Sprague had trouble
selling the idea to other parents.
“ The first couple o f years were the
hardest,” Pittman said. “ It was hard
to convince people o f what we want
ed to do. But Mark did a great selling
job. We had only five wrestlers the
first year and eight the next. Now
we’ ve got about fo rty kids p ar
ticipating."
Each participant pays an annual
fee o f $20. They receive in return
their A A U and U.S. W restling
Federation cards, robes and singlets
and
year-round
AAU
and
Federation insurance coverage.
W restlers compete in v irtu a lly
Day care assistance available
every weight class and are members
o f the Oregon M etro W restling
Association, a group o f teams from
Scappoose. T illam ook, H illsboro,
Forest Grove, Mt. Hood, Scio, Lin
coln C ity and the Columbia Boys
Club (Portland).
“ We wrestle among ourselves and
every Saturday we have a dual or
quadruple m eet,” P ittm an said.
“ We score the winner o f the match
but we don’ t keep team scores. Win
ning and losing, as such, put too
much pressure on the kids. They’ll
get enough o f that when they're in
high school.”
Nevertheless, the Peninsula team
has enjoyed remarkable success in
national and in te rn a tio n a l com
petition. Anthony Am ato, eighty
pounds, Kurt Hirota, ninety pounds,
and young Mark Sprague, 100 pounds,
a ll have won U.S. and w orld
titles, Sprague having turned the
trick four times. He and Hirota won
last year in Mexico City while Amato
claimed his cham pionship the
previous year in Albeqerque, New
Mexico.
But winning is not the name o f the
game, insists the 34-ycar-old Pittman
who also heads up women’s con
d itio n in g , tennis and gym nastic
programs at Peninsula.
“ P a rticipation is the key,” he
said. “ We look at it as a kind of
family sport where every kid, regard
less o f his size, can participate.
There are no losers here. T h a t’ s
because we d o n ’ t ju s t look at
wrestling. We teach a boy first how
to lose, then how to win, then how to
become a gentleman. That’ s what it’s
really all about.”
The N eighborhood O ptions In
C hild Care Project, an American
Friends Service Committee program,
announces the sponsorship o f the
USDA Child Care Food Program in
the North/Northeast area. Free and
reduced price meals w ill be made
available to children meeting the ap
proved eligibility criteria and w ill be
provided w ithout regard to race,
color or national origin. Family day
care home providers w ill be reimbur
sed for feeding nutritious food to
their day care children. I f you are a
certified fam ily day care provider
and want to find out more about this
program, call the NOCC Office —
289-5746 or contact Brunette at 283-
1037.
YOU LOVE FOOD.
WHY WALK OUT
OH IT?
Juicy cheeseburgers with real ketchup Hot
com on the cob Franks on buns Baked
potatoes Watermelon Spaghetti and meat
balls You don't have to turn your back on these
foods |ust because you're on a diet With today's
Weight Watchers* Food Plan, you can e n p y
them all, wit tun limits Desserts, too
In fact, at a Weight Watchers meeting you'll
learn everything you need to know about losing
weight and keeping it off. So come to a meeting
today instead of walking out on many of the
foods you love, you can sit down and eat them
Losing weight never
tasted so good
The Authority
SpotíA "Jalk
by Ron Sykes
Sports Editor
Crummy game o f the week? Try
this Saturday’ s contest between the
hapless 0-3 Ducks from Eugene vs.
the University o f Wisconsin Badgers.
Now i f you’ re looking fo r good
com petitive fo o tb a ll, then by all
means tune this one in.
and use them to think and not to
field punts as attempted in the TCU
game.
The loss o f wide receiver Kenny
Page, who suffered a leg fracture af-
first quarter hurt. It was after Page’ s
loss that the Ducks experienced their
that the Ducks experienced their
problems fielding punts.
Sophomore fu llb a c k , Vince
Williams, again showed his outstand
ing skills as he came up w ith his
second 100-plus rushing performance
o f the season against TCU with 106
in 19 carries.
Although the Ducks should be
favored I ’ m picking Wisconsin by
six. Ken Page w ill be tough to
replace.
Oregon has lost all three o f its
games, losing to Colorado (24-7),
Southern Cal (37-10) and Texas
Christian (14-10). Wisconsin is (2-0),
but their record is deceiving.
They’ve defeated Richmond (7-6)
and Northwestern, which along with
Illinois would have to rate as two of
the crummiest major college teams in
the land.
Oregon a fte r lo o k in g decent
against po w e rfu l C olorado and
Southern Cal should beat Wisconsin
. . if they get their heads together
Lyman Bostock, 27, and dead. It’ s
a sad day in the sports world when
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I YOU'RE THIS CLOSE TO LOSING WEIGHT
Neal selected
someone so highly thought o f and
appreciated as the young Angel out
fielder passes.
Bostock was gunned down as he
sat in a car driven by his uncle in
Gary, Indiana.
Bostock, it seems, was in the
wrong place at the wrong time. He
was a complete stranger to his
assailant.
Lym an Bostock was ra pidly
becoming one o f the best hitters in
M a jo r League baseball.
It seems that Reggie Jackson is a
late starter, or better yet perhaps an
autumn player. Who can forget the
slugging e xh ib itio n put on by
Jackson in the W orld Series finale of
last year. For those o f you that were
stranded on the Sahara, or on a years
sabbatical to the deepest, darkest
part o f the jungle and didn't get the
news, well all Reggie did was clobber
three consecutive homers o ff three
different pitchers, and then went on
to be awarded the M V P fo r the
Series. And now since Billy M artin’s
departure Jackson is doing what he’s
always been known to do . . . and
that is hit that ball.
It’s interesting to note that “ The
Reg” is hitting a whopping .316, in
the past M artin days. The entire
Yankee team has picked up since
B illy ’ s firing. And now have just
about (six games rem aining and
leading by one) pulled o ff one o f the
most miraculous comebacks in the
history o f the game. As late as "July
the Yanks were sixteen games behind
league leading Boston Red Sox. Go,
Reggie, go!!!
And how about those Blazer
rookies. The m agnificent seven:
Mychal Thompson, Clay Johnson,
W illie Smith, Kim Anderson, Keith
H e rro n , Ron Brewer and Clem
Johnson.
A ll have impressed and performed
exceptionally well under pressure. So
what’s going to happen when the vets
return? With the roster set again for
eleven that means that if none o f the
vets are beat out o f their jobs, then
only three rookies can be kept. Who
goes?
Clem Johnson at 6’ 10” can surely
be used. But so could the super quick
W illie Smith out of Missouri. For
sure to stick w ill be the two first
round choices, Thom pson and
Brewer. Keith Herron at 6’6” is too
good to go. He could play both
guard and forward, has good speed
and can shoot. Look for at least one
vet to go. My choice . . . Larry
Steele.
J O IN A N Y C LA SS A N Y T IM E I
Daughter M abie B. Neal, Past
Commandress o f Mina Court #142,
was asked by the Im perial C oor
dinator o f NAACP to solicit mem
bers in our area for the organization.
On return from the annual Im
perial Session in Mina Court #142,
the
Illu s trio u s
Commandress
Daughter Lela Alexander appointed
Daughter Mabie B. Neal as Chair
person o f Community Service.
Carpenters Hall
2225 N Lombard S t.
Mon. 7:00 p m
T h u n . 9:30a.m .
Em anuel Hospital
Maranatha Church
1222 N.E. Skidmore
Sat 9 30 a m
For further information call Collect Portland
15031297 1021. Weekdays - 8 30 5 30
2801 N Gantenbein
'Emanuel Eaat. Room B-1
Thura. 7:00p .m .
■ O N O tS T lN tD TOAONM AM S t X W tlO M T WAT CM« AS
I T N T «W N lO M T W ATC M NM «NTDOWATIONAL '»78
EXODUS
1518 N E
KILLINGSWORTH
PORTLAND. OREGON 9 7 21 1
2 8 4 -7 9 9 7
FACTS OF IMPORTANCE
V O L U M E IV
SEPTEM BER 1978
SERIES I
During the entire month of September you may
register for evening, Saturday and Sunday
classes.
This is EXODUS' first series of community ser
vice classes.
TOPICS ARE:
1. Is Alcoholism the PROBLEM or the RESULT?
— 2 hours
2. What is the difference between the alcoholic
personality and others? — 2 hours
3. How to relate to spouse and children under
conditions of alcoholism. — 2 hours
REGISTER AT:
EXODUS
1518 N.E. Killlngsworth
Portland, Oregon 97211