September and October EZRA Events
The next scheduled EZRA event is Wednesday, September
24 at 1:00. We are scheduled to work at Manna Food Bank doing
Pack and Sort. Pack and Sort involves organizing and packaging
hundreds of boxes of food and essentials for the needy in our
community.
Following the service project we will head over to Tropical
Gardens Mini Golf and Batting Cages for a round of Putt-Putt.
Tropical Gardens is located on Patton Avenue approximatly ten
minutes away from Manna Food Bank. Bring $5.50 for the game.
Pickup will be at Tropical Gardens at 4:00. Please contact Biz
Schill at 329-4205 or
bizzydancing@gmail.com if you need to
carpool or are willing to drive.
Driving directions to 956 Patton Ave, Asheville, NC 28806
Start at Manna Food Bank
627 Swannanoa River Rd
Asheville, NC 28805
1. Head southwest on Swannanoa River Rd toward Fairview
Ave/US-74 0.2 mi
2. Continue straight onto Fairview Ave/US-74 43 ft
3. Turn left to stay on Fairview Ave/US-74 0.4 mi
4. Turn left at River Ridge Dr 49 ft
5. Slight left to merge onto US-74 6.4 mi
6. Make a U-turn at Louisiana Ave 0.2 mi
End at Tropical Gardens Mini Golf and Batting
Cages
956 Patton Ave, Asheville, NC 28806
Hope to see you there!
Heads up:
The October Ezra Event will be October 23. We will be helping
with a charity run. More details to come.
Ezra Event۞
Ezra=Help
Join us for a chance to get together and make a difference in
our community. An EZRA event is a great way to get volunteer
credit hours and hang out with friends your own age. We will
have a service project followed by a fun activity. Service
projects may include: working with Habitat for Humanity, serving
meals at a downtown food kitchen, volunteering at Manna Food
Bank, helping out at an animal shelter or Adopting a Highway.
Once the work is done it is time to play. Activities include:
movie, bowling, Ultimate Frisbee, swimming, skating rink, pizza,
etc.
EZRA events will be held at least once a month for
homeschoolers. Feel free to bring a friend or ten.
EZRA service projects are affiliated with Western Carolina
Athletic Association but the events that follow the service due
to liability are not a WCAA sponsored event.
Asheville Saints Football
Asheville
Saints Football Schedule 2008
Updates and scores will be posted throughout
the football season here.
March 29, 2008 WCAA Trailblazers:
WCAA Board would like to thank each family and athlete for
such a wonderful inaugural year! We are blessed and amazed at
the success our Trailblazer teams have had this first year!
The Trailblazers expect to grow and expand in our second year.
WCAA is currently busy scheduling games for the fall and winter
seasons.
In order to make a smooth transition into our 2nd season, WCAA
Board would like to mention a few items for your consideration
as you begin planning for YOUR next school year:
*When scheduling your student athletes' outside classes (dual
enrollment, co-ops, group school, & labs) please try to schedule
morning and early afternoon classes - whenever possible to be
completed by 2:00 pm.
This will help eliminate conflicts with practice and game
schedules.
*When budgeting for school expenses, please consider funds
for athletic fees and personal sporting equipment (ie: cleats,
shin guards, knee pads, shoes, etc...). In order to help
offset these expenses, WCAA is offering several fund raisers
over the next few months (watch for email announcements and
updates on wncaa.org). Of course, the Ingles Scrip fundraising
program is continuous and on going. Join the fundraisers
now and starting banking money in your WCAA athletic account for
future WCAA athletic expenses.
*Tryouts for fall boys soccer and girls volleyball will be
held in May 2008, boys and girls Basketball tryouts will
be held in October 2008, and spring sport tryouts will be held
in Feb 2009 - all for grades 6th - 12th.
Please watch wncaa.org for specific dates.
*If your student is considering joining one of the
Trailblazer teams in 2008-2009, WCAA Board highly encourages
potential athletes to attend Trailblazer sponsored skill
sessions and other training opportunities this spring and
summer.
*WCAA tentatively plans to offer summer camps and training
sessions for athletes. Some sessions will be opened up for
elementary age athletes in training aka: "Blazer Buddies".
Details currently being worked out, all information will be
posted on wncaa.org.
Blessings,
WCAA Board
Trailblazers Place at State Tournament March 3, 2008
The Trailblazers Middle School Girls Basketball team returned home
Saturday night from Greensboro, NC with a second place trophy in the
NCHEAC State Tournament. The first game of the state tournament
placed the Trailblazers from Asheville against the Wake Forest
Lighthouse Eagles; the Trailblazers won on Friday with a score of 22
11. The championship game was played in Hanes Gym on the campus
of Greensboro College on Saturday, March 1, and found the
Trailblazers again competing with the Hawks from Forsyth. The speed
and drive of this conference team proved too much to overcome. Coach
Kari Payne said, ³We are very pleased with our second place finish
in our first appearance as an organization at this state
tournament.² The season ends with a 12 - 9 win loss record and
with only four eighth graders moving to Varsity sports we have much
to look forward to next season. Congratulations to the Middle School
Girls!
The Middle School Boys team also advanced to the state tournament.
On Friday, these Trailblazers were up against the defending state
champs, The Durham Flight. A half time lead slipped away to a loss
for The Trailblazers and put them in the finals playing for a third
place finish. They dominated the floor all four quarters in this
game against the Raleigh Hawks to claim a third place standing in
the state. This, too, is a remarkable finish, given the number of
teams in the association and the length of time some of these teams
have been playing. Putting together these talented Middle School
boys was Coach David Payne and he remarked, ³This group played with
a great team effort.² The Middle School Boys end their season with
a winning 16 -9 record overall. A job well done by the Middle School
Boys.
The Trailblazers travel with a group of fans that claim these
victories with them. We thank all those who cheer, encourage and
support these championship teams.
TRAILBLAZERS HEADED TO STATE TOURNAMENT!!!
Three of the WCAA Trailblazer basketball teams competed in the NCHE
Athletic Conference Basketball Championships this past weekend in
Winston-Salem. The tournament had over 40 teams competing in both
eastern and western regional divisions. The top two teams from the
eastern and western regions advanced to the State Tournament next
weekend in Greensboro. The high school girls lost their first round
game and were knocked out early (their starting point guard suffered
a bad ankle sprain earlier in the week). The girls remained at the
tournament to cheer for the other teams.
The Middle School girls team, which were second seed, played Surry
County in the first round and won, 24 - 14. The Middle School Boys,
also second seed, played Surry and won a nail-biter which was
decided by Jeremy Minick's two foul shots AFTER the final buzzer.
The final score for them, 29-28.
The MS girls played Forsyth County, who was undefeated during the
regular season, in the championship game and held them to a six
point lead at half-time. Forsyth pulled away in the second half and
the final score was 11 - 30. This was the only time all year that a
conference team scored double digits on Forsyth. The Trailblazers
were happy to take second and be headed to state during their
inaugural year.
The MS boys also had a tough second round against the undefeated
Greensboro team. The final score was 21- 36 , giving the
Trailblazers a second place finish and sending them to state with
the girls team.
We would like to thank all of the sponsors, players and fans for
making this inaugural year of Trailblazer basketball such a success.
Remember the Trailblazers are currently holding tryouts for spring
sports.
TRAILBLAZERS PLACE IN LOCAL TOURNAMENT!
The boys and girls middle school basketball
teams played in the Charlotte Nedar Invitational Middle School
Basketball Tournament at Carolina Day on Feb. 9, 2008.
Both teams represented homeschoolers extremely well. The girls
beat Asheville Christian Academy (ACA) to place third and
the boys beat Immaculata to place third as well. Check out
www.wncaa.org to see some
pictures.
The LAST HOME GAMES ARE NEXT TUESDAY AT TRINITY BAPTIST!! Come
support your teams!!!
Picture this: A gym full of screaming fans cheering their team
on – Stands full of parents shouting for every point scored and
athletes driven to keep going, even though they are loosing and
want to give up. Now the most shocking thing: this was a Middle
school basketball game and the stands included HIGH SCHOOL
players who came to cheer their counterparts to victory. Now,
the team suffered their first conference lost (mind you the
starting point guard was sick), but a valuable lesson was
learned and that is where YOU come in!!!
The Trailblazers are finishing up the winter season of their
first year and we are starting to recruit athletes to play
spring sports, including baseball, softball and girls soccer.
We need YOUR athletes to keep the momentum building. We know
there are many fantastic homeschool athletes out there who would
love to join the Trailblazer teams this spring. If you have a
middle or high school student interested in getting information
about the spring sports please email
wcaa@bellsouth.net
and put “spring sports” in the subject line. Please include
name, age, contact information and the sport(s) your student is
interested in playing. This is NOT a commitment to join the
team, but just a request to get information about the upcoming
seasons from WCAA/Trailblazers.
Now – back to the first paragraph…. The comradery and
friendships that are developing around these teams is amazing.
The game I mentioned above was played on Friday, Jan 11 at
Emmanuel Lutheran. The most astounding and exciting thing was
not on the court, but in the stands. Many spectators had come to
watch, but a group of 12 high school players came to watch the
middle school team. Of the 12, only 3 had siblings playing in
the game. How many high school athletes voluntarily go watch a
middle school game? Seeing all of the energy and spirit that
these kids are developing just compels me to share it with
others. I know many homeschoolers play on rec league, travel or
other school teams (my children have also played for these other
teams), but I would like to share with you some reasons to
seriously consider playing with the Trailblazers.
1- Lasting friendships with like minded individuals – They play
with other homeschoolers – they understand each other – no one
teases, questions or ridicules them for being “different”. They
can talk freely about the struggles, frustrations, and triumphs
of homeschooling b/c they understand each other.
2- Perseverance and Competition – By playing at a middle school
and high school level, the students are pushed to achieve at a
level not experienced before which encourages them to achieve
excellence in other areas of their lives. They learn to
persevere through seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
3- Relationships with Families who share the same values –
Knowing the families of the friends my children have is
invaluable. Since we all experience many of the same trials,
fears, and concerns I enjoy spending time with these parents. It
also enables me to get to know them, BEFORE my children are
asking to spend time with their children.
4- Coaches who teach character as well as the sport. – The
coaches for the Trailblazers realize the important role they
play in the development of these students. They know that sports
are not the end all, be all – but realize the lessons learned
while playing will continue with them throughout their lives.
Below are some quotes from some of the parents of athletes who
played in the fall:
"They not only coach the sport well, but coach the boys well in
life lessons and character."
"Both coaches were Christians on the field as well as off. At
the games and practices I attended I saw the coaches patiently
instructing the boys w/o “going ballistic” if they had to
explain the same thing over and over. Both coaches are wonderful
role models for our sons."
"Both coaches displayed excellent knowledge of the game and the
skills required to play. They did excellent jobs of both
exhorting and encouraging the players- who, I believe, responded
well to their teaching”
5 – The privilege to be a role model for younger athletes – The
younger students coming up are already talking about how they
“can’t wait to be a Trailblazer”. This gives your student at
chance to be a leader and a strong role model for these younger
ones.
6- The opportunity to pursue athletics in college. – Every sport
we currently offer has tournaments which can provide recognition
for your athlete. All of them have state tournaments and many
have regional and national tournaments which can provide your
student a chance to be seen by colleges or other higher level
coaches.
Ok I can think of others, but it is late and if you have read
this entire email you are probably exhausted too!!! My biggest
point is before you join another team – PRAY about joining YOUR
Trailblazers. We NEED you and you will have a BLAST!
So let us know you are out there and email us at
wcaa@bellsouth.net
. You can keep up with the latest schedules and skills
sessions at www.wncaa.org If
you have any questions or want more information please email
Greg or Glenna Toney at the above email address.
Thanks
Dari Mullins
I want to 2nd what Dari has said about the Trailblazers.
My daughter has played basketball with a local Christian school
for the last 3 years but this season we decided to make the jump
to the homeschool team. This was not an easy decision
because not only did my daughter have strong feelings of
commitment to her old team, the Christian school was our church
home. The cost & travel were other big obstacles.
With several younger children going in several directions--the
homeschool team was going to be a huge commitment!
Without a doubt, it has been the greatest decision we could have
made. Not only is my daughter having the best time she has
ever had playing basketball but she is getting great coaching
and has made lasting friendships. We have a son that will
be eligible to play baseball this spring for the middle school
team and because of what he has seen at the basketball games, he
is so excited to be a part of a trailblazer team!
I highly recommend trying out the Trailblazers! You won't
be sorry!
In Him,
--
Libby Davis
F.A.I.T.H. Tutorials Administrator
(Fostering Academics In The Home)
230-8945
TRAILBLAZER MATH
12 (months since we ³Launched²) + 2 (third
place state finishes) + 7 (teams to wear the uniform) + 2
(broken bones) + 53 (winsŠso far!) + 1 (state
championship) + 4 (teams ³in the works² for Spring) =
Innumerable memories, accomplishments and fun for this first
year of your Trailblazers athletics!
You, too, can be a part of this equation!
Search
this site
