Kyle Rehrig and Pat Lamastro volunteer to advise
By:Donna Lukiw
Manville High School’s student athletes will be more visible in the future, thanks to a new club forming at the school.
The Manville Board of Education recently approved the introduction of a Varsity Club that will be open to juniors and seniors who have attained at least two varsity letters in any sport being offered at MHS.
Girls basketball coach Kyle Rehrig and Athletic Director Pat LaMastro decided to voluntarily start and advise the Varsity Club (according to district policy, a new club has to be run on a volunteer basis for the first year).
Mr. Rehrig credited the idea to Mr. LaMastro, who approached him about it last year.
"We have been discussing it since then and I finally decided to get it started," he said. "We both agreed that it would be something that the student-athletes in the school could benefit from and enjoy being a part of."
Once students become eligible, they will receive an invitation to join the club. Currently, 24 student-athletes have been invited to join the club, with at least five more who will be eligible at the end of the spring sports seasons.
Those joining will be expected to uphold the ideals in the Manville Athletic Contract, which requiring the students to attend practices and games, abstain from using tobacco, alcohol and drugs and maintain satisfactory grades.
"The purpose for the club is to promote the student-athletes in and out of the school. I want them to become more involved in the community and offer input and advice on how to improve athletics in the school," Mr. Rehrig said.
The club will hold small clinics, like football and soccer clinics, during each sport season for the youths of the Manville community, charging a small fee as a fundraiser for the club.
"We will also hold meetings, where we can discuss happenings during the current sports season and ways to improve our teams and ourselves as student-athletes," Mr. Rehrig said.
According to former MHS Vice Principal Ned Panfile, the school had a varsity club earlier that also helped encourage team spirit at the school.