The only surprise to the end of Ed AshmoreB次元官网网址檚 run as a wrestling coach is that it didnB次元官网网址檛 come sooner.
This is the first fall , whoB次元官网网址檚 known as the guru, the dean, the professor of Island wrestling and a member of the Greater Victoria , hasnB次元官网网址檛 coached a team.
B次元官网网址淢y heart is good, but by the end of last season, my legs hurt too much. [The arthritis] radiates from my spine into my legs and ankles,B次元官网网址� said the 83-year-old.
It spells the end of the district-wide Commonwealth Bulldogs Wrestling Team, a team created for students whose schools are without a wrestling program, which is all of them this year (a new program, the Victoria Wrestling Club at Zuma gym, is offering a similar service to students in Grade 6 to 12).
Ashmore already misses it, he says. In recent years the Bulldogs were mostly younger kids new to wrestling, with the exception of the and one other teen. There were 18 members in 2016-17.
Over the course of his history, Ashmore could have written a book. During the past 54 years, much of it at S.J. Willis, Ashmore coached Olympians, national champions, provincial champions and district champions. His time at S.J. Willis in the B次元官网网址�60s and B次元官网网址�70s remains the golden era of his career, which also included his role as assistant technical director for the 1994 Commonwealth Games.
B次元官网网址淪.J. Willis was looked on like the dregs of the district, but it was the most beautiful group of kids. It was the toughest school, but it was full of sweethearts,B次元官网网址� Ashmore said. B次元官网网址淭hey were my kids, God bless them, theyB次元官网网址檙e 60 years old now but theyB次元官网网址檙e still my kids. I loved them.B次元官网网址�
Ashmore was a gymnastics coach at the Victoria YMCA in 1963 when then injured himself and convinced Ashmore to run the class.
Ashmore, a teacher, then led the team at S.J. Willis and when the existing high school wrestling teams folded, he expanded his program to include any student from SD61 or 63 and coached it long past his retirement from teaching.
B次元官网网址淚t was decades ago I was promised in perpetuity the use of Cedar HillB次元官网网址檚 gym, but I had to work, I had to fight to retain that,B次元官网网址� Ashmore recalls.
In recent years Esquimalt has run a successful program and Reynolds too has been off-and-on, though mostly off.
Michael Cappus, a Victoria resident born in Port Alberni, home of the IslandB次元官网网址檚 biggest wrestling scene, is running the Victoria Wrestling Club.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 sad to hear Ashmore has had to stop coaching this year,B次元官网网址� Cappus said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e trying to offer a club that will keep [his legacy] going.B次元官网网址�
Like AshmoreB次元官网网址檚 Bulldogs, the VWC meets Tuesday and Thursday nights, 7 p.m. at Zuma Mixed Martial Arts in Vic West. ItB次元官网网址檚 open to students in Grades 6 to 12 and is only $85 for the year, far less than a Zuma membership.
B次元官网网址淭he athletes will wrestle and train here but wrestle for their schools in meets,B次元官网网址� Cappus says. B次元官网网址淥ur intention is to be as closely affiliated to B.C. School Sports as possible.
The first tournament of the season is in early December, a novice tournament.
B次元官网网址淗opefully we can branch out to the high schools again and start teams in schools again,B次元官网网址� Cappus said.
Ashmore has three grandkids in town and three in Calgary.
Students interested in joining the Victoria Wrestling Club can contact Michael Cappus at victoriawrestlingclub@gmail.com or 778-350-4225.
ZUMA is located at 1035 Alston St.
