More On The Rock

More from Coach G...

Its the fourth quarter and we are behind. This is crunch time. As a school we are hoping to send 1,000 emails to the Westfield City Council by next Monday and so far we have sent ... 19. Now is the time to stand up and help our school and program by making your voice heard.

1) Please send an email ASAP explaining your support for the City giving us money from the water sale to support our new stadium. They will get a full return on their investment due to the taxes that would be generated from moving us off of the current field. I have attached my email if its helpful. They don't want cookie cutter emails, but everyone needs to send one, even if you just list bullet points like below.

• Over 200 events are held each year at the present stadium and current use is restricted because it is natural grass. With an artificial turf stadium, future use is expected to grow to over 300 events annually. 
• Our existing stadium can not meet the needs of our school and community 
• A turf surface has less maintenance cost 
• The field could be used during the school day for band, PE, and other courses 
• Graduation could be held in the stadium and the back up plan- with tickets- could be the gym 
• The school gains new facilities and the opportunity to support overall economic development in the area. 
• The City advances development at a key point in time for the Grand Junction. 
• The community benefits from additional dollars invested in infrastructure and the potential for reduced tax rates due to growth in assessed value 

The email addresses are:

councilmembers@westfield.in.gov

acook@westfield.in.gov

2) Secondly, we need 100 VOTERS at the meeting next Monday (5/12) at City Hall at 7pm. Please clear your schedule and attend. We want the kids there too, but the Council needs to see voters in that crowd. Please wear Green!

Go Rocks!

City Council Follow Up

From Coach G...

Thanks to everyone who made Monday's meeting at City Hall! We have a lot of work to do still. We need for every single coach, parent and player to send an email to the City Council and Mayor. The email should support the City approving the financial request from Dr. Keen to help us get the new stadium started. We want all of the emails to be original, but the more the merrier. One family is encouraged to send multiple emails. Some suggestions are to write about our severe need for a new stadium, how a new stadium could positively affect other sports and band, and how speeding up the building process will help Westfield's economic development.

Please support us by sending the council and mayor an email. We have to show our support in numbers. Our players and managers need and deserve this and this is a win-win for our program and the city.

Lastly, mark your calendars for May 12th. We will need everyone to attend the City Council meeting at City Hall at 7pm. At this meeting we will find out the council's decision.

Mayor Cook's email address is: acook@westfield.in.gov

All council members can be reached via one email address: councilmembers@westfield.in.gov

Go Rocks!,

Coach Gilbert

If you're still looking for ideas to write about, another suggestion is to relate a favorite memory from the current stadium. Let them see how much a stadium, ANY stadium, touches and shapes the experience of a community. A bigger, newer stadium can safely accommodate more people, which means even more memories!

We fully believe we're investing not just in the team or school, but in the community at large. Early memories of attending varsity football games are what drove many of us coaches to keep playing. We all, at one time, looked forward to playing under the lights on Friday nights. 

An investment now can shape the memories and experiences of generations to come. There are a lot of very good, very logical reasons for a new stadium. But even if you don't understand or are not interested in any of those, I would guess that you have a fond memory to relate. Sharing those priceless memories will certainly stick in the minds of policy makers.

Rock The City Council

We love our city. I'm sure that means we've all properly applauded our dutiful City Council members, right? Well, if not, you've got a chance to for a touchdown and and extra point tonight at 6:40pm (meeting starts at 7pm).

The Build The Rock campaign is on the agenda. They are considering making a contribution to speed up the building process. We cannot overstate what up-to-date facilities would mean to our team, our school, and our community. If you've been to even one away game, you probably know that our current football facilities do not measure up to basically anyone else in the area. From the field to the press box, everything needs updated.

Don't get me wrong, Red Stanley stadium has been a great home for many years. It has seen a small school program rise from before Westfield was even considered an official city, to a 5A State Runner-up football contender. Many of us have a lot of good memories on that field. Even so, we need a new one. We've been fighting to get one for years now it seems, and we're so close. Anything that can help get us over the hump is worth doing.

So, if you can, stop by tonight. Wear Westfield Football gear. Applaud the council members for doing a good job. And hopefully encourage that contribution.

Support Rocks Football. Golf.

An announcement from Coach Carnes...

The Westfield Football Team is selling Wood Wind golf cards for a fund raiser. If you play golf at all in the summer this is a fantastic deal (I purchased 3 of these two years ago just because it saved me a bunch of money golfing). You purchase the card for $50, the football team gets $20 and you get:

Free green fee during a weekend (you just pay for cart) Two free greens fees during the week (you pay for cart) Five buy one get one free green fees (weekdays or after 11am on weekends) 1 $80 golf lesson for $25

If you use the free weekend green fee this card pays for itself. You get over $350 worth of discounts for $50 and almost half of your money goes to supporting our football program. If you would like to purchase cards for yourself, your family, or your friends just let Coach Carnes know by email: carnesb@wws.k12.in.us

Below is a picture of an actual card if you want to see it or have questions about any of the details that might not have explained well enough. If you want to see an actual card contact Coach Carnes. Please make checks out to Westfield Athletic Booster Club, if you are paying with cash please put your money in an envelope with your name and how much money is in the envelope, get that to Coach Carnes and he will get you a card.

Please feel free to share this with any husbands, wives, or friends that golf.

If you have any questions at all, do no hesitate to contact Coach Carnes in person or by email: carnesb@wws.k12.in.us

Congrats Mitch Turley!

Mitch will be leaving quite the legacy when he wraps up his time as a Rock in the coming months. We consider ourselves very blessed to have coached such a fine young man. Mitch has earned many awards in his time with us, and recently was honored yet again. Selected as one of only forty in the entire state, Mitch was named an Indiana Academic All-Star. The award marks only the third time a Rock has been so-honored in school history.

Mitch elected to honor Coach Gilbert as his favorite educator.

Mitch will be attending MIT in the fall, studying biochemical engineering while playing football and lacrosse. Sounds like quite the schedule! We wish nothing but the best for such a hard-working Rock and know he will continue to be a representative of the very best of our football family.

Honored Mentions

A pair of neat things happened for the team in the last week that are worth noting on here.

First of all, we were honored prior to a Varsity Basketball game on Tuesday night with a short ring presentation announcement. The rings are pretty cool, if we don't say so ourselves. Check 'em out on the poster. (And if you'd like a poster, shoot Coach Gilbert an email. We had a bunch made up because, well, we're proud of our family.)

Second, we were honored by St. Vincent's with their Spirit of Sport Award in the month of January. Check out the awesome YouTube video HERE (or on their Facebook page). We always love it when our family gets recognized for the good stuff they just think is the "right thing to do."

Shamrock Signatures

I've mentioned before that the beginning of the year is Clinic Season, but it is also season for signing collegiate commitments. After such a good season, many of our players have garnered (deservedly so) the attention of college football programs. While we hope to eventually have eleven members of our football family continue on to the next level, four have already signed for their scholarships to play. Coach Gilbert asked me to extend our heartfelt congratulations through the blog to these players.

Zane Burtron and Nick Krieg will be playing for Olivet Nazarene University next year, representing the Shamrocks just across the border in Bourbonnais, IL.

Nick Ferrer will continue airing it out at the University of Saint Francis in Ft. Wayne, IN.

And Devin Reece will grace the fields of Ball State University just down the road in Muncie, IN.

We consider ourselves extremely blessed to have worked with these young men, and will make the transition from coach to fan with pride.