The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Charlottesville High Announces New Principal; How Does CHS Continue To Move Forward?

Episode Date: March 21, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Charlottesville High Announces New Principal How Does CHS Continue To Move Forward? New Northrop Grumman W-boro Factory Impact How Will New NG Employees Spend Their $$$? Spring Creek Golf Going Private ($5K Initiation) Does Spring Creek Privatization Impact Area? Donnell Hopkins, Megan & Brian Ruby Interview Disrupter Wrestling Club’s Trials & Tribulations Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air Donnell Hopkins, Megan Ruby & Brian Ruby, Coaches for Disrupter Wrestling Club, joined me live on The I Love CVille Show! The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Thursday afternoon, guys. My name is Jerry Miller, and thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seville Show. It's great to connect with you through our studio on Market Street, the I Love Seville Studios. We're in the shadows of Thomas Jefferson's University, just two miles from the Rotunda, two miles from the John Paul Jones Arena and Scott Stadium. We are about 50, 60 yards from the Charlottesville Police Department, a block from the Albemarle County and Charlottesville City courthouses,

and a block off the downtown mall. I love this community so much that the network is called the I Love Seville Network. We encourage you, the viewer and listener, to join us in the discussion. Shape the conversation. Ask us questions. Spread the gospel. Offer commentary on topics that you would like to join us in the discussion. Shape the conversation. Ask us questions. Spread the gospel. Offer commentary and topics that you would like to see covered on the show. We love to crowdsource content. We want to be the water cooler of information for Charlottesville, Alamaro County, and Central Virginia, a 300,000-person market that means quite a bit to us. Here's a rundown of topics we're going to cover today. We're going to talk how taxes continue to change this community and

it's not just the meals tax increasing, not just the sales tax increasing, not just the lodging tax increasing, not just grocery taxes going up changing the character of our area, but folks government is thinking about raising parking fees in downtown Charlottesville. Explain that. Help it make sense. A downtown that needs people, and we're going to raise parking requirements and charge people more money to come to eight blocks that have not truly recovered since the pandemic. We'll talk about that in a matter of moments. I want to highlight some positive news. Charlottesville High School has named a new principal, Dr. Justin Malone. We'll show you some photos of Dr. Malone.

We'll give a spotlight to a Black Knight community that I think is still healing from a first semester that was tumultuous, a first semester that saw fights, saw rumbles, saw adults being let in through the side door to contribute to brawls and melees. Saw what was potentially an organized strike, air quotes, by teachers right before Thanksgiving. The second semester, however, has looked much brighter. We'll talk about that on today's program. And I want to give props to a gentleman that i think is stand up guy and principal leatherwood and he deserves tremendous credit for turning this school around on today's program we're going to also talk um northrop grumman the daily progress

did a heck of an article i read all the local outlets and I want to give some props to the DP for their story today on the economic impact of Northrop Grumman's new Waynesboro factory and how it's going to be felt on both sides of Afton Mountain. This story highlights that the 300 employees that are going to staff the new facility in Waynesboro, an average salary of $94,000 for those 300 employees may not live in Waynesboro, but instead may be looking for housing and spending those disposable dollars in Alamaro County and in Charlottesville. This is something we've predicted for weeks since this news broke. We'll talk about that today and spotlight this article that I found fascinating in today's newspaper. I want to talk Spring Creek Golf Club. We broke the news for you that

Heritage Golf Group, the Heritage Golf Group out of Herndon, Virginia, acquired Spring Creek Golf Club, Judah, a month ago today. And ladies and gentlemen, we predicted this when the news was announced they are privatizing spring creek golf club one of the most fantastic courses a course that golf digest uh billed and monikered one of the most affordable courses that you can play in virginia is now going private to to the tune of a $5,000 initiation fee up front and a monthly fee of roughly exactly $450 per month. I'm going to talk about that storyline on today's program. And ladies and gentlemen, I'm very excited to welcome Donnell Hopkins. You know him around this community as Hop. The man is sharply dressed.

The man's got swagger. The man's got moxie. The man makes an impact in the lives of student athletes, and he has so for decades. We'll highlight Megadon Brian Ruby, and we'll highlight the Disruptor Wrestling Club. This club is making a positive impact in this community, and if it's positive in this community, we talk about it on the I Love Siebel Show. However, like any small business, like any nonprofit, like any local organization, it's not all roses and rainbows. And we're going to help navigate that conversation

today on the program. I got two radio stations, a TV station, a newspaper watching us right now. We'll say hello to some of our fans like Curtis Shaver. We love you, Curtis. Holly Foster and Henrico. Heather Walker and Johnson Village. Jason Howard on Ryo Road. Neil Williamson, the president of the Free Enterprise Forum. Ray Caddell. Two city counselors. One board of supervisors watching the program literally as we speak. Judah Wickhauer, the director and producer of this fine and fair talk show. I'm going to read the release from Charlottesville High School. If you could show us photos of Dr. Justin Malone on screen. He's the newly minted principal of Charlottesville High School, the only

high school in Charlottesville city limits. This the release from yesterday 19 hours ago. We are delighted to announce the next principal of Charlottesville High School will be Dr. Justin Malone. Effective July 1. Dr. Malone has served as the principal of Charlottesville's Jackson Vaya Elementary School since 2017, and before that he was an assistant principal at CHS from 2013 to 2017. Dr. Malone, listen to this, ladies and gentlemen, Dr. Malone was selected among a very strong field of 43 applicants. The interview panels included a diverse group of staff,

parents, guardians, and current CHS students. In the end, the committee members felt that they had a difficult choice to make because the candidates were strong, but they felt that Dr. Malone was the clear best choice for CHS due to his administrative and personal strengths, as well as his many years of experience serving Charlottesville High School, Seville schools, and our community. Dr. Malone's career began in Greene County schools, where he was a special education teacher, a special education coordinator, and an elementary and middle school assistant principal. This guy's bona fide. He's got a BS and an MS at Old Dominion University. He earned an

EDD at the University of Virginia. He also served as a doctoral advisor and adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University. Judah, let's go on a two-shot, and I appreciate you showing the photos of Dr. Malone on screen. They hire within the system. First thing that jumps to mind, very easy in a school that's facing crisis, and we'll cut to the chase, the school was facing crisis. We had dozens of students, we were told by teachers and admins, roving the hallways unsupervised, causing brawls, melees, stampedes, letting an adult into the school through a side door to contribute into a fight. We had the former principal quit unexpectedly, saying this job was creating serious anxiety for me. I mean, this was like lean on me and dangerous minds right here in Charlottesville without Morgan Freeman and Michelle Pfeiffer,

without Coolio's Gangster's Paradise. We bring in Mr. Kenny Leatherwood, a man who I have tremendous respect for. He writes the ship and serves as the interim principal in the North Star. He says, look, if you're not going to go to class, if you're not going to put down your cell phone, if you're not going to listen to the teachers, you're going to not be at Charlottesville High School. Why this wasn't being done in the first place, I don't know. If kids don't follow the rules, they shouldn't be part of the system. You give them a chance, you give them a second chance. Three strikes, though, is patience. And if a few dozen kids are impacting the rest of the student body, it's kids are impacting the rest of the student body,

it's not fair to the rest of the student body that a couple dozen kids are impacting the quality of life, of education for everyone else. We've got to have accountability in life. We certainly do in adulthood. It should start at the high school level. So I appreciate the hire.

I like that it starts July 1, so he's not thrown into the fire right away. We should salute Kenny Leatherwood as serving as the interim principal for getting this program and this school back on track. Perhaps Superintendent Gurley may be the best hire he and his public school system have made at this point because the school certainly was in a crisis situation. Where do you want to begin, my friend? He sounds like a great guy. It sounds like they've actually listened to feedback. There were panels of, I believe it was parents and teachers and students that all got to interview him.

I think they helped shape the course of the hiring. And that sounds far better than some of the other things that we've talked about within the school systems around here. Well said. And the fact that he's worked at the school as an assistant principal, the fact that he's been working as a principal at Jackson Vaya for the last seven or so years. I believe he's been in the Charlottesville school system as a principal or vice principal for about ten years. So he's certainly got the credentials

to continue the good work here. I've seen Charlottesville High School clicking on all cylinders. I've been here almost 25 years. Covered Charlottesville High School Athletics as a sports writer for the Daily Progress, as a broadcaster for NBC 29, and as a broadcaster for ESPN Radio.

I've seen it clicking on all cylinders under Garwin DeBerry, under Mitch Miner, under Kenny Leatherwood. I've seen it clicking on all cylinders sports-wise, education-wise. It's a beautiful school, beautiful people,

tremendous resources. It just needs the right leadership. And fingers crossed, Dr. Justin Malone is the guy. He starts July 1. I salute the community, Black Knight community, for doing this the right way with input from the ground floor up. Students, parents, school board, admin, teachers, staff all had a say here. Viewers and listeners, let us know your thoughts.

We'll go to North Downtown's Finest Grayson. He says this, Jerry and Judah, your program is how we get our news the higher. We were talking about this on our walk around the neighborhood. It was a fantastic one. Our kids are in Charlottesville Public Schools, and this is a storyline we were following very closely. With God's grace, he's the right man for the job.

Amen. Amen to that. Absolutely. Thank you for that comment. Let us know your thoughts, viewers and listeners. We'll relay them live on air. The news, we lead with a new principal at Charlottesville High School.

Big time news. Second piece of news, as you're working lower thirds through the screen, Judah. Northrop Grumman's Waynesboro factory, we know this. We've talked about this for months. A $200 million facility. This facility is going to take a few years to come to market. It's going to bring 300 incremental citizens, new citizens, to the Shenandoah Valley or Central Virginia. The average salary for these 300, $94,000.

The Daily Progress, I am giving props to the newspaper today for the coverage in today's paper about the economic impact of Northrop Grumman's new Waynesboro facility. We prognosticated and we chitter-chattered on this show that an average salary per person for these 300 engineers and manufacturers of $94,000 would lead the engineers and manufacturers to consider housing not necessarily in Waynesboro, but perhaps in Crozet, perhaps in Charlottesville, perhaps in Ivy. Waynesboro really is the best off in this deal. You think? What's that? I think Waynesboro really is the best off in this deal. You think? What's that? I think Waynesboro really is the best off in this deal.

Why? Because they have the 300 staffers potentially not living in Waynesboro, taxing their infrastructure, but spending their money while they're working there? Yeah. I think so, too. I think that's what's going to happen. I think you're going to see these 300 potential employees

live in Crozet, live in Afton, and make the commute to Waynesboro. But I think they're going to spend their lunch money, their breakfast money, their gas money, their happy hour money, potentially some of their grocery money at say Basic City Brewery, at some of the establishments in the Waynesboro area around the factory, and then they're going to go across the mountain where they're going to live. And they're going to choose the schools of Western Alamaro to raise their children. Because Western Alamaro's got banging schools.

And I'm not throwing shade on Waynesboro schools, but you look at the schools of Western Alamaro, whether it's Henley, whether it's Western, whether it's Meriwether, whether it's Murray, whether it's Brownsville, these schools are some of the top ones in the Commonwealth. And when one person in the family's Brownsville, these schools are some of the top ones in the Commonwealth. When one person in the family is clocked at 94, and if the partner in the family also has a job, you've got total household income that's significantly above area median income. Area median

income in 2022 for the Charlottesville metro area, $113,000 in county. It's insane. Ladies and gentlemen, these 300 staffers, and the newspaper alludes to this here, and it's something we've been covering for weeks on this program, are not going to be living in Waynesboro. They're going to put a housing crunch on Western Almarone and Crozet, a crunch that's always already happening that's already prevalent and

already very real we will follow this very closely i want to salute the newspaper for covering this story extremely well in 113 i misspoke 123 300 the actual number according to hud in 2022 and that number is going up um one other item of news before we welcome folks that I think need no introduction in this community, and Donnell Hopkins and Megan and Brian Ruby, I want to highlight Spring Creek Golf Club. A month ago today on this talk show, we broke the news that a Herndon, Virginia golf group, the Heritage Golf Group, was purchasing Spring Creek Golf Club and Zion's Crossroads. Spring Creek is one of the largest neighborhoods

in Central Virginia. Judah, what's the largest neighborhood in Central Virginia by rooftops? We talked about this last week. Pop quiz. Was it Lake Monticello? Bingo. You just aced the pop quiz.

4,300 rooftops in Lake Monticello? Bingo! You just aced the popcorn. 4,300 rooftops in Lake Monticello. Forest Lakes in the two slot. Spring Creek and Old Trail rounding out the top five. Spring Creek, ladies and gentlemen, the golf club, the primary amenity for the gated

community in Louisa, across from the Walmart and Lowe's in that epicenter that'sisa, across from the Walmart and Lowe's, in that epicenter that's booming, across from El Mariachi. We love you, Johnny Ornelas, Steve Ornelas. You guys have a fantastic Mexican restaurant over there. Ratz is also fantastic.

Heritage flips the switch and says, this will not be open to the public anymore. Starting on May 1, this is more breaking news for you. Starting on May 1, Heritage says, if you want to play this golf club, you got to be a member. And the initiation fee is 5k up front and the monthly dues are 450 a month. You won't have any greens fees, but you will have to pay a cart fee. Common and private golf course world, the cart fee is 25 bucks. They gave their membership 30 days heads up before implementing this new privatization rule. You had an out-of-market company purchase a local golf club that was one of the most favorite clubs,

favorite courses to play for golfers in Central Virginia, one where Golf Digest had built one of the most favorite clubs, favorite courses to play for golfers in central Virginia. One where Golf Digest had built one of the most affordable tracks in the Commonwealth of Virginia. And Heritage Golf Group, no shade on them. They're a business. They're trying to make dollar-dollar bills, y'all. They say, we're going to make some money by making it private and saying, if you want to play the course, give us $5,000 right now and $450 a month. I'm very curious to see how this impacts the Spring Creek neighborhood that is booming in popularity, one of the few gated communities in this market, Central Virginia, that is 300,000 people strong. J-Dubs, if you want to help our guests on set and put me on a one-shot, I'm very excited on today's program to have an in-person interview with

friends of the program, Donnell Hopkins, Megan, and Brian Ruby, and the Disruptor Wrestling Club. This club has had a significantly positive impact on the community. We will highlight that positivity, and we will highlight some of the challenges and headwinds they may be also facing right now. Judah Wickhow, the director of our Fine and Fair talk show, thank you for helping with this transition. If you want to go to the studio camera, and then we can welcome a four-shot in. And guys, you were on screen. I think Donnell Hopkins needs no introduction. This man is a local celebrity. I'm still going to offer the open mic to a guy that has made a hugely positive impact on so many people. Coach, introduce yourself to everybody that's watching.

How are everybody doing? My name is Donnell Hopkins. Everybody calls me Hop. I work security at Monticello High School. I've been coaching wrestling since 96. I started off at Alemarle High School. I was there for 17 years. And then I took a little break, then went to Monticello.

I was there for four. Spent a little time in Williamsboro. Now I'm back home at Monticello. And just love the sport. There's nothing like it. I first met Hop when he was coach at Albemarle. He came on our talk show, Varsity Lights, a TV show that aired on Sundays at 1130, brought some of his wrestlers with him, and I was just so impressed

with how the student athletes looked up to Hop, how they improved not only on the mat but in the head space, in the socialization space, and how they became adults under his tutelage. That's what high school athletics provides. It's not just about wins and losses. It's about becoming the best version of yourself. Let's welcome our guests, Brian and Megan Ruby, to the program. Megan, ladies first here.

Introduce yourself to everybody that's watching. Thank you. Hi, my name's Megan Ruby. Semi-recent transplant to the area from Oregon about a year and a half ago, coming on to two years, and we just love being here and love the community. So fortunate to meet Coach Hopps last year as we were finishing our high school season. We had a group of student athletes that said, hey, we really want to continue to keep growing in this sport and growing in community and so as we'll talk about more we started to figure this out as a team and hops came our way and has been just so instrumental and being just an awesome part of all of this so

thank you so much for having us here today to talk more about the community lift that we're trying to do. Absolutely. Stephanie and Larry Rhodes giving Hops some props right now on the program. Donnell's got fans all over central Virginia, and I'm really not BSing. This is truly a fact. You should see what I'm seeing over here. Brian, the show is yours. Introduce yourself.

Thank you. My name is Brian Ruby, and I concur. Hops is the man. We're very grateful to have ran into him last year. I am the head coach of Albemarle High School now, and co-founder and director of the Disruptor Wrestling Club, and work-based learning coordinator out in Greene County. And like Megan just said, we moved here about a little over a year and a half ago

from Oregon. And we were just noticing that, you know, we would love to provide more opportunities of wrestling to the students in the area. And we had kids that were just really gearing, ready to go, keep going after the season last year. So Megan, she dug down, dug deep, and figured out how to start a nonprofit within about a week.

So she got that going and got me and Hop's coaching. Hop will get you in the mix. we'll get you in the mix. Megan, we'll get you in the mix here. We'll go positive first. This community, rich in wrestling history. Hop, you know this better than anyone. Put the wrestling history into perspective. Put the numbers in perspective.

Jim Harshaw, Cavalier Wrestling Club, comes immediately to mind with some of the stuff that he's done. Talk about the history of wrestling in Central Virginia. Well, we've had some tough kids come out of Central Virginia. We also had a drought where we weren't doing as well. And I think a lot of that comes from kids not having a place to go or wanting to do camps but can't afford to do the camps. So they lose their technique, they lose their drive, their will to continue on with the sport. So, like, in high school myself,

I was a four-time city county champ, a three-time district champ, third in the region, sixth in the state. But it's just like, just, I just love it. You know, that's all I can say. I just love the sport, and I love how it changes kids. You see kids, like, just change. I mean, like, from the beginning to the end.

And you'll see, like, because there's no one that can help you. You know, you're out there by yourself, and there's no excuses. I mean, either it's not like basketball or football where you missed a block or basketball you missed a shot. Hey, if I don't take that shot in five seconds, I can't blame anybody but myself. You know, you can't be like, hey, you can't put the blame on anyone else.

It's accountability. And that just changes kids. There's no help. You're by yourself. You're out there on the island. It's either sink or swim. Anyone who's played a sport where it's you and only you, whether it's a racket sport, whether it's track and field, whether it's golf, realizes the level of personal growth that can happen through facing personal pressure.

And team sports, and I love sports across the board. I love, I'm a diehard sports guy. Time to time, you can hide on the pitch, on the hardwood, on the gridiron, because there may be four other guys out there, 10 other guys out there, whatever it may be. When it's wrestling, when it's golf, when it's track and field, when it's tennis, it's you and what's in between your ears. And sometimes what's in between your ears can be your biggest opponent. And I've seen it all the time. Let's get Megan in the mix here. You guys started a nonprofit a year after coming to the community? Walk us through that flipbook. Well, Brian and I were both educators during the time of COVID. And so we really saw the students and families being impacted from various different levels by COVID.

And then the engagement process back and trying to rebuild community, reengage in finding one's identity after something like that was really challenging and so that is what led to wanting to coach even after still moving here and still figuring out where to live we thought how can we get involved and how can we just help support the efforts and that's what led to the high school season. And then the kids wanted to continue. And the sense of belonging and identity that they were starting to engage and the life skills that Hops was just talking about that were coming out of it and the transference of what they were learning on the mat into life was just really powerful for us to see because we really weren't doing a whole lot. We were just helping provide the platform for them to see because we really weren't doing a whole lot. We were just helping provide

the platform for them to do the hard work. And that's what led to then the nonprofit and continuing with it is really just to be able to help them have that place to be and to grow in who they are. And it's just been amazing to watch the community come together um you know as hops was saying there's there's the accountability that comes from it wrestling is such a unique sport that it's a team sport until it's an individual and it's so cool to watch the kids and the community really celebrate each other and celebrate individual victories and hold that accountability and lift each other up and encourage them in ways that I don't see training in other sports because it's it's a pretty tough sport but then

at the same time be willing to then say I know I'll take you out on the mat and take you on so it's it's really super cool to watch um albemarle high school very rich wrestling history um talk to us about um your plan to continue that history and what you've seen in a short time and then we'll get to some of the challenges you guys are facing right now sure um so when when i did take the position at albemarle high um was, again, after the pandemic, I really feel like most sports, it took a hit. And we were seeing our numbers. They were, when I moved to the area, they were sitting at about 12 to 15. We were able to recruit and get our numbers up to about 18 kids. And with that, you know, these are all

pretty new kids as well. They're very new to the sport. And if anybody knows about wrestling, it is a tough sport. It's a tough sport to learn and very tough right at the very beginning when you're just starting to learn it, right? You can't really even count on a lot of wins so to stay with something like that to keep to keep pushing to keep striving to become better has been a been a focus and through that and through the community we're building we saw our numbers jump up to 44 this year big time yeah yeah that's awesome massive massive massive um and even our numbers in the uh in the club going from you know a handful of kids up to really we're bursting uh at the seams right now um the the the just the

overall um hunger the zest, the passion. The zest for it, you know. To be there, to be on the mat, to be with all the rest of the team. You know, the kids are just, they want it. They're just driving for it. So, I mean, our goal is to improve, get better, keep growing our numbers,

and, you know, we'll hopefully get Albemarle back on the winning side of things. I know we just scored get album are back on on the the winning side of things I know we just scored more points at the state meet then the album are scored since the 90s so that was a yeah yeah that was that was great to see that improvement in one year that's absolutely amazing so we celebrate the successes here Marcello program of hops history in the in the community of what Brian's doing at Al Morrow we got to talk some challenges now for wrestling to go to another level I would imagine it's going to be it's got to be more than just a

seasonal sport and for it to be more than just a seasonal sport you guys need space to practice to grapple to get after it here and to have space you probably are gonna have to go to the schools and ask for it. I'm passing the airtime here. Who wants to lead this charge and some of the challenges you guys are facing? Yeah. So I'll start us off and then I'll let these guys jump in. So yeah, we did. We found that we had this interest with from the kids we had the interest of from the the community and the the parents when we went to the schools in you know we we found that in order to reserve space under a club club

banner we are charged right we're charged an hourly rate for the school use, and then we're supposed to have somebody on staff nearby, you know, and also paying that person. But we could count ourselves, luckily, as one of those people as we were staff members. And, you know, at 26 bucks an hour, it's not going to break the bank for anybody. But I really wanted to emphasize what we're trying to do. We're trying to eliminate all barriers for kids. So we're not asking them to pay for dues. We're not asking them to pay for even their entry fee into tournaments.

We're covering that we want to cover everything for these kids so that we can maximize the involvement maximize the growth of wrestling We all believe that everybody should try wrestling at some time of their lives and that it's good for everyone So why not make it accessible to everyone? So we're trying to take that message and provide for the kids. But we did meet some additional challenges this year that I'm going to let Megan talk about this last round of challenges. Yes, I think our foundational belief is really to break down barriers. And we have identified that socioeconomics is a barrier to wrestling because it is not only an expensive sport sometimes for gear and for tournament fees, but also to have a space to practice. We also have identified that there be a part of our club, that they don't have to have a certain caliber or be of a certain ability, because we really think and value the skills

that can be learned are so transferable in life. The ability to wrestle is rather short in somebody's lifetime, but the skills that they have can take them through their whole lifetime. And so that's our kind of holistic development that we want. And so therefore we want to ensure that it's available to pretty much anybody that has it. And right now we're currently faced with needing to have a home to provide that so we can pass on the basically free access and free opportunity. All of our coaches that are a part of it are all the local coaches. They are volunteering their time. We are volunteering our time.

Nobody is taking any type of monetary income from this. We are all doing this just as a shared community lift to help support the next generation, which is really, I think, one of the coolest things to be a part of because giving your time, treasure, and talent is really showing where priorities can lie. Your most precious commodity. Yeah. So I just see a great group of people that know wrestling in and out. And so that's what they're giving. And so part of of I would say our biggest barrier that we're up against right now is the amazing appreciation for not only the Boys and

Girls Club of Albemarle that has helped provide some space and the local high schools that have come to the table to help provide some space but to be able to discover an area where we can have space in a more permanent consistent we would love to be able to provide a safe place for kids to be every day after school whether it is middle school students high school students or elementary students knowing that they can go be a part of a program be a part of a community have somebody watching over them, but then also saying, hey, are you getting your homework done? Because that's an important part of who we are too. And trying to find those next steps so it can be consistent and then also financially beneficial has been a bit of a challenge.

Hop, what do you make of the storyline here? What do you make of the, I mean... You've seen this for a long time. I'm so glad someone like Brian and Megan is here in Charlottesville. This is what I've been trying to do for years. To get something for the kids and have this club, it's a great

thing. I just want to thank you guys for coming and bringing it to Charlottesville because this is what we've been needing for a long time. And for these guys to dedicate their time and get this club going. I mean, we have kids from Fluvanna, Fork Union. All those guys come in, man, and it's just amazing.

We want to get to the point where we put together an off-season travel team and we go to, like, Jersey and places like that to go and compete because a lot of times these guys want to meet each other regular season. We're all in different districts and regions, so we're all just getting better and just putting a hammer down on other kids throughout the region. So that's what I'm waiting for is that hammer team that we put together with all the local schools, come together and make one strong team.

And shout out to Monticello because last year, Pierman allowed me to have the open mat. I said, Pierman, I got guys from the Russell Off Seasons. He goes, hey, open mat. I said, I have it open. That way anybody can come. Just come. I'm willing can come. Just come. I'm willing to teach.

Just come. That's awesome. So what's the ideal vision for the club? Is it space of your own? Is it fundraising? Is it all the above? I mean, what's the ideal vision here? Well, those two things, I think, kind of go hand in hand, I believe, in that, you know, the space, you know, we can maybe afford the space

with some additional funds. One thing we haven't, you know, we had our rental fees doubled, I guess, basically, on us this year. At the school level? At the school level, yeah. Okay, that's significant. It is, it is significant, along with,, along with the raising of the potential rates of having somebody there on staff. And that became a potential issue, too, of even charging more money to have a staff member there. So we're in discussions with the schools to try to convince them. I think one of the things, the challenges has been the other sports actually charge their kids. So therefore that puts them in a certain category

where they are then gonna be charged as a club. We don't charge our kids, we are providing for our kids. Other sports charge their kids to be a part of the club correct which sets a precedent exactly um for you guys exactly so what we're finding that if our product wasn't sports if our product was um you know selling cookies building fires all those wonderful things that are very needed for people to find identity in, they would be able to. They'd give you the space. They would give us the space because they qualify.

But sports are historically a pay-to-play situation. And even though we are offering beyond sports around the homework supports and some of the other things, because we've got trained educators there. We are really trying to help this whole shared lift um we're still being a trailblazer within the category which is hard to change a precedent but sports are creating a barrier of entry which in turn is creating a socioeconomic challenge for participation I would like to pause you and give a huge shout out to Charlottesville High School, though. Because they have really come to the table as a partnership to making it very supportive there. Based on their value system. And Coach Wilkerson over there has been a part of this support coming out of high school season

as the high school coaches have gotten together and talked and just really appreciate what they're doing to help support students having a safe place to be after school and growth. What's your own location look like? Square feet-wise, space-wise, location-wise? Location, so we're sharing space between Charlottesville High School and Albemarle High School and we have been using a mat at the Boys and Girls Club that was donated to us. So we're rolling out mats at the Boys and Girls Club on about a 40 by 40 mat or 38 by 38. Who has also come to the table and offering the

space for free to us because they're also being an incredible partner in this. Yeah they're just limited on the times that they have available for us. In our other spaces we have you know we have our own mat which is again it's a 42 by 42, I guess. So we have that room going along with Charlottesville High School's room going. But really, we're seeing our numbers potentially doubling in a short amount of time, which we could be then running into some space problems. Will you ask what ideally? Yes.

And ideally, we would love to have our own space. Like I'm saying outside the school. Right. I've had spaces before in Oregon where we worked out of a warehouse. Nothing fancy. We don't need anything fancy. Space to be able to roll out a 40 by 40 mat would be fantastic.

Yeah. You need space for mat space and maybe some tables where the kids can do some work. That's centrally located. That might have a few parking spots. Yeah, you need space for mat space and maybe some tables where the kids can do some work. Right, right, right. That's centrally located that might have a few parking spots, but the reality is this is probably a lot of parental drop-off. Yeah, exactly. It is. It is parental drop-off.

If there's access to some type of transportation, that would be wonderful, especially for those after school. And one of the advantages to having our own space is when the schools are shut down for a specific reason we still have coaches that are saying hey we want to be able to come in and open up a room we know that there's no school today for whatever reason and when there's no school if we're reliant on the school calendar that means we can't be there to help serve the kids yeah and so if we have our own space we would and i haven't had a chance to plug girls wrestling yet but women's wrestling is exploding and we have so many girls that are in our local area that are interested in being able to have times to practice

with other girls just because their style that they'll need for college if they want to continue in college is a little different than the boys and so we are also running up against some limitations that as girls wrestling is exploding at all the high schools we've got this really cool multi-high school team of girls that's coming together to grow and we also need space to be able to provide it not only for them but for their for the littles that are starting to see it and we want littles to be able to access it absolutely you know I'm a father of two and we'll get to some comments coming in my wife and I one of our least favorite

aspects of raising kids is the screen time addiction and and and the fact that it's becoming so ubiquitous with our youth and anything sports wise or anything reading wise or anything club wise or activity wise that keeps kids off screen times is is gonna be championed by me we got a mom of two watching the program Sarah Hill Buchanski she says I would think this model would really appeal to schools so much that school systems would find a way to make it work. We've got another mom watching the program named Shelly Smith that said, Coach Hopp has helped so many from his time at Albemarle High School.

Thank you for having him on the program here. We've got another person asking, fundraising. How do we go about doing that for this organization that's doing notable work? Thank you. Great. Yeah. Thank you for all those comments. And we also agree with thinking that our mission was in line with the school district's mission. And so honestly, I think as all of us, as educators and coaches, that's been one of the surprise barriers within that district. But from a fundraising standpoint, we do have a website. It is disruptorwrestling.com. E-R, not O-R, on disruptor.

Really modeled after the concept of disruptor leadership, which is a very assets positive leadership style to be a change agent and really feel empowered to be an agent of change and have the mindset to follow through with that and that's what we believe that wrestling can provide so um disruptor with the er on that we do have the non-profit that is fully set up with the Venmo and the PayPal, but we also... So it's a tax deduction? It's a tax deduction. I can write the letters, and we're also looking for sponsors at the individual and company level to discuss... Did you create this website, Megan? I did. You are a rock star.

Thank you. She did that and the website within about two weeks. And turned it into a nonprofit, and you guys have been here a year and change. This is impressive. Thank you. I appreciate that. I sincerely, sincerely mean that. Comments coming in. This is from Mr. John Blair.

He's a father. He says, you and your three great guests are highlighting a really bad trend in America, sports, the merit track. Help me with that word. I have a hard time saying that. The most even playing field is becoming a privatized endeavor that is not available to less resourced children. This is a travesty. Alboro and Charlottesville should find a way to help them instead of encouraging even more inaccessibility to play sports. A thousand percent agree. And that's why, John, I wanted to do this interview.

When Hop reached out to me, that's exactly why I wanted to highlight this. Sports should be like, I mean, when I was growing up, it was like ball, court, stay on the court by winning games, next, team up. You know? Now it's like AAU, pay to play, travel, barrier of entry. Soccer, it used to be like there's the soccer field. We played 7-on-7, 11-on-11, and we did it all day. We woke up in the summer until when mom said we had to get home at night.

There was no screen time. Now it's travel soccer, pay to play. If you don't have the money to get on, maybe a couple scholarship spots. If you don't have that, you're screwed. Yep, you're out. And that's not right. No, that's not right no that's not right that's not right no that's all what we're about that is exactly what you know when i came here when we came here i've been coaching since 91 and uh i was just well i'm gonna just say i was a little shocked you know

shocked at the lack of middle school sports there is none here. And shocked at really the opportunities for some of these youth. You know, when I was told if we were going to be kind of bursting at the seams that we need to cut. You don't cut wrestling. You don't cut wrestlers. No. I'm not going to cut. I will never cut uh so you know if that means that we need to find space or have to you know uh stagger practice or whatever we're gonna do that but

um i was just i guess a little taken aback at some of the attitudes around here locally so that led to um us wanting to do this and provide for all of the kids you know let's go ahead no we're just seeing that there is a need i mean mean, we never would have imagined, I think Brian and I last year, when we started all of this in response to, as I said, a group of kids that actually, we had one in particular that was a junior and he went to try out for another sport

and got cut from it. And I remember him calling coach crying and says, hey, is there anything for wrestling anymore? Because he got cut from that and I remember it was like 11 o'clock at night and Brian turned to me and said we've got to figure out this club thing and I was like of course so you know watching that snowball a year ago into now this where we're sitting here we have all the local high school coaches that are coming together in collaboration saying it is wonderful the opportunities that currently exist, but there is more of the continuum that wants to participate in wrestling.

And so how can we help grow in partnership the continuum into just a larger network so that for those that want a certain experience, they can have that. But then for others that need this type of experience, they can have that. And as my years in education was in special education, and I saw many students who received access is to create that equity and ensuring that everybody has access to the next step in their life and I really greatly feel that that's part of our shared lift here is how do we provide them access I mean sports keeps kids out of trouble it shows kids how to follow the rules and gives them something to work to i mean sports i would have been in so much trouble if it wasn't for sports sports kept me from driving my mom crazy

i mean just like basic stuff like that vanessa parkhill is giving hops some props uh her son lee parkhill vanessa parkhill is awesome in earliesville she says hi coach hop love highlighting wrestling in central virginiaments all over here. SHB says, this is great. My nephew just started wrestling this year, and he just turned six. He lost bad his first few matches. There were tears, but he continued. Talk about teaching resilience.

Thank you for your mission. Folks, if you want to help this organization, please, please do. They're doing things the right way for the next generation in this community. And they're looking for some assistance to keep kids participating. And they're volunteering. This is absolutely amazing. We'll close the interview here at the 125 marker by offering an opportunity to do the who, what, when, where, why one more time. Christy Herring says, an amazing club with amazing and truly dedicated coaches. Christy T. Herring, thank you for watching.

Christy, guys, the show is yours. Anywhere you want to go, utilize this platform to highlight Disruptor Wrestling Club. Wow. DisruptorWrestling at gmail.com is the best way if you have any further questions. We have the website, but also the email will come directly to us as coaches to be able to discuss your thoughts or questions or opportunities to donate more personally again it's er and not or on disruptor and and i do want to just take a quick moment before they close out to give a shout out to all of our albemarle ads think that our ADs at each of the buildings have done an amazing

job in helping promote and support wrestling as they've been watching it grow at each of their high school levels. So I just really know that we've had some challenges, but I think our ADs have been amazing in helping support the lift. The lift, yeah. And the local coaches here as well. Scott out in Western Albemarle, Dave Wilkerson up at Charlottesville, Hop at Monticello, myself. I've all gotten together, really, and met. We're meeting.

We're having Zoom meetings to grow the sport. We're all dedicated and very super excited to, you know, have actually a group of guys that can get together and talk and get along. And really, we're not trying to take each other's team or throw it out. We're just, we're trying to grow the sport and we're putting kids first, you know, and that's something that our club and what I love about all the coaches here is we really put kids first. We just want to see them succeed ultimately. The final words, sir. The final words is if you want a good ball coaches, especially football coaches, if you want a good football team, get your guys to wrestle. If you want to

learn how to tackle, get your guys to wrestle. A double leg is nothing but a football tackle. So, help me with my program, I'll help you with yours. I love it. This question just came in. Final word on this question right here. Spencer's watching this program. Hops a legend.

Who would he say is the best wrestler of all time to come through Charlottesville or Albemarle? Man, you can't. That's a tough one. You can rattle off a few if you want to. Oh, my gosh. I mean, I could start. I mean, gosh, you had Willie Crawford.

You had Zach Norris. Of course, myself. Jason Penn. We used to call him Squat back in the day. Carl Beisner. Jeez, man. I think I could, Chip Falcone. This just goes on, man.

A lot of talent. A lot of talent. A lot of talent. I appreciate you. Appreciate you. I significantly mean that. I seriously mean that. And Brian and Megan, you guys are rock stars. I appreciate you. Appreciate you. I significantly mean that. I seriously mean that. And Brian and Megan, you guys are

rock stars. I'm on the website, Disruptor with an E, DisruptorWrestling.com. Support the organization. Give them some love. Thank you kindly, kindly for joining us. Thank you. We absolutely appreciate you guys. A couple of other items out of the notebook that we want to cover

including a couple of comments that have come in that I want to relay live on air this one from mr. Blair who's watching the program he says I'd like to disagree with the daily progress article Stanton is only 15 minutes from the new North Drummond operation I think a number of the new employees will locate in Stanton look at stay in high schools Sol's compared to Western are you going to pay 40 to 50 40 to 50 percent more for a home in Crozet instead of Stan? That's a great great comment right there from John Blair As we talked about Northrop Grumman and the new 200 million dollar

Facility that's in the process of opening. We appreciate you guys you guys guys crushed it thank you so much this comment has come in on Spring Creek this is from one of the regular golfers at the club not only did we get 30 days notice just 30 days notice but they blindsided us with the initiation costs it's a tough pill to swallow especially for some of us that don't have a ton of disposable income. And I live in the neighborhood. We predicted this when we broke the news that Northrop Grumman, or excuse me, that the Heritage Golf Group was going to look to monetize and turn every aspect of their purchase into a profit center. I am not throwing shade on them. That's how you run a business. I was surprised it happened

this quickly that they're privatizing the club with the $5,000 initiation fee and the $450 up front. That's today's show. I'm proud of today's show. I'm proud to champion people locally

that are doing great things. I'm proud to utilize the platform we have and the following that we have to help organizations and nonprofits that are doing good things for the next generation. I mean, one of my, I talk about this often here. Like, if we, I'm a father of two, and my wife is doing predominantly the heavy lifting as a stay-at-home mom. She's amazing. My oldest had his, our oldest had his sixth birthday yesterday, turned six.

And the magic that she made for his sixth birthday was just sensational. I mean, birthday magic where he's coming down the stairs to pancakes molded into shapes, to a massive six-year-old balloon, to we woke him up with throwing balloons on him, to presents wrapped when he got downstairs, to us singing him happy birthday in bed, to she making sure that the school and all the sports teams knew that it was his birthday, to cake and presents when he got home. It was just birthday magic. And I think us as parents, and again, she's leading this charge, our whole task is to help our children be the best versions of themselves and be better than us as parents. And part of being the best version of yourself

as a child, no matter your age, whether you're six like our oldest, whether you're 15 months old like our youngest, whether you're 16 like our neighbor's kids, whether you're 13, whether you're 18, some of the best versions of yourself is not being glued to a screen, playing video games or going down the YouTube rabbit hole.

So I am all for, as a parent, anything and everything that gets our kids and any kids off iPhones, iPads, video games, you name it. Yesterday, our six-year-old went from an hour of squash practice to an hour of baseball practice back to back. We drove from Ivy and the Boar's Head to Quarry Park. One practice ended at 5.30. The other one started at 6 p.m. And we were almost in hustle.

Every parent's been there. Hustle panic mode to get to the other practice. But I would have it no other way. No other way. Because yesterday, there was no screen time. And when my kid's head, when our kid's head hit the pillow, when after birthday cake and a quick bath and a little bit of reading, she read three books to him in bed.

You know what? He fell asleep. He didn't come downstairs and bother us in the two hours we have before we fall asleep ourselves. And he woke up rested and ready to go. And that's a beautiful thing. So for the Disruptor Wrestling Club to get as much participation as possible. Hip hip hooray for that. And any of the coaches out there or teachers or any of the volunteers

out there that are doing their best to get kids off of screens and out of YouTube and video games, props to you. We're lucky to have you in Central Virginia. My name is Jerry Miller and that's the I Love Seville show on a Thursdayursday afternoon so long everybody