CLUB S
Club Champions is designed to serve as a sustained contributions initiative for those that believe in the mission of Ralph Wilson Youth Club. You sponsor economically disadvantaged youth, Boy and Girl of the Month, Boy and Girl of the Year, 149 basketball teams, 121 volleyball teams, charity golf tournaments and fundraising parties. Without your sense of service over self, Ralph Wilson Youth Club’s reach throughout the community would be compromised!
We encourage you to continue to support the youth of our community. However, as we approach the ten year anniversary of the opening of the 25th Street location of the youth club, we face some new and some old challenges in meeting the needs of our youth. With the aging of our facility, growth of our programs and inflated costs associated with operating a robust program, the need exists to not only maintain our current level of contributions, but to increase contributions.
As a Club Champion, we are challenging you to consider increasing the level of your contribution to the youth club. In addition, if every existing Club Champion recruited three additional donors, the impact would be tremendous. We are willing to provide tours to prospective donors and offer flexible contribution plans. For more information on how you can help boost our Club Champions program, contact our Executive Director Brett Williams at bwilliams@rwyckids.org.
2024 Winter Basketball Wrap Up Spring Break @ RWYC! 28th Annual Craig Bukosky Junior Golf Open
Facility
True Champions
Upgrades
Friends and supporters of Ralph Wilson Youth Club gathered for what has become a tradition, celebrating the start of a New Year at the annual Last Night - New Year’s Eve Gala. Close to 200 partygoers descended upon the McLane Aviation Hangar at Draughon Miller Regional Airport.
The black-tie event allows supporters of Ralph Wilson Youth Club to celebrate the end of one year, and the commencement of a New Year with fine dining, music, fireworks, and most importantly FELLOWSHIP. The annual event serves as one of two major fundraisers conducted annually by Ralph Wilson Youth Club.
The occasion for 2024 will be YEAR 10! Event organizers are already in the planning stages to create a year ten event that will be like no other Last Night - New Year’s Eve Gala. Be on the lookout for information in the near future.
ALL ABOARD!
Belton I.S.D. Dedicates James L. Burrell Elementary
Ralph Wilson Youth Club has added another school to its service area. The January dedication of James L. Burrell Elementary by Belton I.S.D. added the elementary to the list of schools that Ralph Wilson Youth Club provides after school programming. Burrell Elementary is the 6th school located within Belton I.S.D. that falls within the youth club’s service area.
2024 Winter Basketball League
The 2024 Ralph Wilson Youth Club Youth Basketball program featured 152 teams and 1,253 youth. These youth ranged in age from 5 – 12. They competed in four divisions of play, played 635 games and required more than 4,600 hours of volunteer service hours from our dedicated coaches. The program experienced a 4% growth from 2023. The success of the program is only possible thanks in part to the cooperative spirit demonstrated by the various school districts that have youth in the program. Temple College and Temple I.S.D. are also gracious enough to allow for games to be played in their facilities.
Each week, the Athletics Division recognizes a Male and Female Athlete of the Week. For the 2024 Season, eight males and eight females were recognized for their exemplary sportsmanship and competitive drive on the court.
12U Girls Runner Up
Capital Trucks
Parts & Service
12U Girls Champions
Tem-Cats
12U Boys Champions
CRW Wildcats
12U Boys Runner Up
Temple Heat & Air
10U Girls Champions Capital Trucks Parts & Service 10U Girls Runner Up Tem-Cats
10U Boys Champions Temple Heat & Air 10U Boys Runner Up Lincolns Lay-Ups
Craig Buksoky Sportsmanship Award
Each year the Ralph Wilson Youth Club selects a male and female athlete from the youth basketball league as recipients of the Craig Bukosky Sportsmanship Award. While these players athletic accomplishments are worthy of recognition, their sportsmanship and team-first attitude are why they were chosen to receive this year's award.
Congratulations to Kameryn Tate and Max Wesbrook, the 2024 recipients of the Craig Bukosky Sportsmanship Award!
Kameryn is 12 years old and attends Travis Middle School. Max is 12 years old and attends Bonham Middle School. Congrats Kameryn and Max!
Staff Spotlight
Name: Dhalia Gonzalez
High School: Rogers H.S Class of 2023
College: Tarleton State University
Field of Study: Pre-Med/Biomedical Sciences
Career Goal: Trauma Surgeon or Pediatrician
Why she enjoys working at RWYC? What I enjoy the most about working at RWYC is seeing how my interaction with the kids influences their day, and how they influence my life. I love being someone the kids can trust. Knowing that they arrive at the youth club excited to see me brings joy to my heart.
Fact of the Matter: In her spare time, Dhalia likes to be in the company of her family and friends. When it comes to eating, Dhalia’s favorite food is steak. One bit of advice she would give any kid at the club is to not give up when you fail. Instead, learn from it and try it again.
BREAK BREAK SPRING SPRING
Spring Break 2024 was yet another amazing experience for the youth and staff at Ralph Wilson Youth Club. 188 youth signed up to spend their weeklong break with the Ralph Wilson Youth Club Family. Over the course of the week, youth were able to enjoy a variety of activities that took place within the youth club such as basketball, kickball, video games, pool, ping pong, and gaga ball. In addition, numerous youth embarked on field trips to various locations. Xtreme Jump, Gattis Pizza, Spare Time Texas, and Wheels Family Skating Center were the field trips that youth had the opportunity to experience as a part of the Ralph Wilson Youth Club Spring Break camp. And to cap it all off, on the last day of the break, every youth registered for the program were treated to an on site play day that featured inflatables and a unique video game trailer. Youth were also treated to the famous RWYC Burgers and ice cream.
On the Hunt
Ralph Wilson Youth Club spread over 2,500 eggs across the property for the club’s Egg Hunt. The youth club is always excited to conduct a special event for our youth. The egg hunt allowed all youth to collect a plethora of eggs that were filled with various candies and trinkets. All youth left the club feeling good about their ‘haul’ of eggs!
Facility Upgrades
As the youth club approaches ten years of age, the need to upgrade / improve our facility is becoming more of an issue. To ensure we remain a place where our kids feel special and get to have an experience like no other, the youth club recently made improvements to key areas of the youth club. The Video Game Room has undergone a complete renovation. The renovation involved replacing the nine game consoles located within the room with the latest game consoles on the market. In addition, the televisions were upgraded from 55 inch to 65 inch 4K screens. These upgrades have resulted in an improved gaming and viewing experience for our youth. The upgrades were much needed as the game consoles were the original systems from the club’s opening in 2016.
The second upgrade undertaken by the youth club involved the conversion of the area previously utilized as the skate room to a cafeteria. The new cafeteria area features televisions and seating. The main factor in the conversion is that now youth will always be able to enjoy breakfast and/or lunch in a climatized environment. Previously, youth would eat outdoors under the covered patio. The decision was made by the leadership that we want our youth to be guaranteed to eat in a climatized environment every day.
28th Annual CMB Jr. Golf Open
This year marked the 28th time that the Bukosky Family has hosted the Craig Bukosky Junior Golf Open. The annual event has continued to experience a positive trend in participation by youth golfers. The 2024 event featured 107 golfers taking on the challenge that is presented at Wildflower Country Club. Winners were crowned in 11 divisions of play. The Overall Male Award went to Jackson Null with a score of 70 and the Overall Female Award went to Carly Marshall with a score of 71.
January
February
March
Magnolia Turner
Boy & Girl of the Month
Boy & Girl of the Month
Joseph Steele
Emma Silva Jayce Tobar
Boy & Girl of the Month
Paisley Mullins Elan Thomas
