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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Canfield Village Middle School eighth-grade boys basketball coach Mike Yourstowsky (right) introduced his team at the school’s annual Winter Sports Pep Assembly on Jan. 26.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.The Canfield Village Middle School seventh-grade girls basketball team was introduced at the school’s annual Winter Sports Pep Assembly on Jan. 26.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Canfield Village Middle School eighth-grade girls basketball coach Jim Harmon (right) spoke about his undefeated team at the school’s annual Winter Sports Pep Assembly.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Canfield Village Middle School seventh-grade boys basketball coach Brady Clark (right) introduced his team at the assembly on Jan. 26.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.The Canfield Village Middle School seventh- and eighth-grade wrestling teams were recognized at the school’s annual Winter Sports Pep Assembly Jan. 26.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Accompanied by the Canfield Village Middle School pep band, the seventh- and eighth-grade cheerleaders led the V-I-C-T-O-R-Y cheer at the school’s annual Winter Sports Pep Assembly on Jan. 26.
By ABBY SLANKER
School spirit was flying high during Canfield Village Middle School’s Winter Sports Pep Assembly on Jan. 26.
Students, faculty and staff gathered in the school’s gymnasium to recognize members of winter sports teams, including seventh- and eighth-grade wrestling, seventh- and eighth-grade cheerleaders, seventh- and eighth-grade girls basketball and seventh- and eighth-grade boys basketball.
CVMS physical education teacher and athletic coordinator Bob Tinkey welcomed everyone to the assembly, including friends and family members of the student athletes.
“Welcome to the CVMS 2017-18 winter sports pep assembly. We are here to recognize our student athletes who represent our school,” Tinkey said.
The cheerleaders led the students in cheers and performed cheers and dance routines throughout the assembly. The CVMS pep band also performed throughout the rally and revved up the crowd with their upbeat musical selections.
Tinkey introduced wrestling coach Dave Crawford, who addressed the crowd before he recognized each of his team members.
“If you’ve never been to a wrestling match, I strongly suggest you try to make it to one. This is such a nice group of boys and they work hard and put in a lot of time with their sport. I have a new respect for these guys and what they do on the mat. I am very impressed with both the seventh and eighth-grade boys and their work ethic. It’s not an easy sport. They keep working and keep improving and I am proud of how hard they work,” Crawford said.
Before the introduction of the cheerleaders, Tinkey thanked them for their support.
“Cheerleading is very time consuming. We really appreciate their support and all they do for the teams,” Tinkey said.
The seventh- and eighth-grade cheerleaders are coached by Lesley Koch, and each of the cheerleaders were introduced by two of their teammates.
Tinkey then introduced eighth-grade girls basketball coach Jim Harmon to represent seventh-grade coach Pat Pavlansky.
“Unfortunately, seventh-grade girls basketball coach Pat Pavlansky can’t be here this afternoon, so our eighth-grade girls basketball coach Jim Harmon is going to recognize the seventh-grade players. Coach Harmon has been a coach for about 16-18 years. We are very lucky to have him in our building,” Tinkey said.
Harmon introduced the seventh-grade players and said both he and Pavlansky are very proud of the team.
“This team is very impressive. The most impressive thing about them is they currently have an 11-2 record and the two teams they lost to early in the season, they came back to beat later in the season. Coach Pavlansky and I are very proud of this program,” Harmon said.
Harmon then turned the microphone over to two of his eighth-grade players to introduce the rest of the eighth-grade girls basketball team.
Harmon took to the podium to praise his team.
“Currently, our eighth-grade team is undefeated. They are 13-0. I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls. They have the desire to win and the competitiveness is there. They have a great future and they have potential for something special. I am looking forward to watching them play at a varsity level,” Harmon said.
Tinkey then introduced the seventh- and eighth-grade boys basketball coaches.
“Brady Clark is our seventh-grade boys basketball coach and Mike Yourstowsky is our eighth-grade boys basketball coach. We are very lucky to have two former Canfield players coaching in our basketball program. They were both high-impact players and that has carried over into their coaching ability. They are able to prepare our young players for the high school level,” Tinkey said.
Clark then took the stage and introduced his seventh-grade team members.
“I would like to thank Coach Tinkey for everything he has done for us. I’d also like to thank the custodians for all they do. They are at each game and do such a great job. And I would like to thank the faculty. They have been great and we really appreciate that and their support at the games and making sure the boys behave in the classroom. And thank you to the cheerleaders for their support and cheering our players on. And, of course, the parents. This program would not be possible without them and everything they do. Now to the boys, this is a great group of kids. We are having lots of fun. We are now hitting our peak at the end of the year. Our record is currently 11-3. I couldn’t be more proud of them. Unfortunately our team has been bitten by the flu bug, so some of our guys aren’t able to be here with us today,” Clark said.
Yourstowsky then took the microphone to introduce his eighth-grade team members.
“I would like to thank Mr. Rubin, Mr. Flood, Mr. Juggenheimer and the custodians for all their help. And thank you to the parents for everything they do, including bringing food for the boys before games. Thank you to the faculty for all the hard work they put in. And a thank you to Mr. Turocy for letting us use his classroom. And thank you to the cheerleaders for all their support. Our team is sitting at 9-4. We have two more home games and I would love to see you come out and support our team. We have a great group of guys who work hard everyday,” Yourstowsky said.
Tinkey took to the microphone one last time to thank the audience.
“Thank you everyone. You’ve been a great audience and now it’s time to make some noise,” Tinkey said.
To end the assembly, the cheerleaders led the crowd in a V-I-C-T-O-R-Y cheer. First, they encouraged the entire crowd to cheer and then the students cheered by grade in a contest to see who could cheer the loudest for the winter sports teams.