BullShooter Magazine August 2017 Number 8 Volume 34 | Page 18

Omaha, Nebraska
Wolfpack Junior National Team:
New Home Brings New Opportunities
In June, 2018, a lot of changes came
to the Wolfpack Junior National Dart
Team. As with every year following
the NDA Junior National tourna-
ment, there was the usual roster
and coaching changes...but this year,
something bigger was happening.
The 2018 team will be moving to a
new home. Coaches Steve Garrean
Jr. and Matt Winters had approached
the local Godfather’s Pizza about the
social hall space that it had available
above the restaurant. A few meetings
later and it was official...the Wolfpack
would have “The Wolves’ Den”.
When asked why the team decided
on the move from its long time home
at the Eagles #365, Coach Matt Win-
ters simply stated, “This has been
the goal from the start. We’ve always
wanted a family friendly atmosphere
to grow a full-fledged Junior program
and do everything we envisioned from
the beginning.” Coach Steve Garrean
Jr. also commented, “This partner-
ship has offered us a perfect location
to base not only the Wolfpack, but
also to build and grow our outreach to
other area youths. We had many chil-
dren who were interested in learning
about the sport and participating, but
whose parents did not like the idea
of the bar atmosphere. This allows
us to include even those children and
really expands the amount of kids we
are able to introduce to the game of
darts.”
The Wolfpack has helped host week-
ly Friday evening Youth-Only Luck
of The Draw Dart Tournaments that
have seen more than 80 different kids
participate within the first month.
They also open up “The Den” to those
kids who wish to come in throughout
the week to practice or just hang out
and socialize.
During the Youth-Only Tourna-
ments, the Junior program also gives
away random drawing prizes, such
as dart sets, cases, gift certificates
and even a pair of tickets to a Shawn
Mendes concert.
Wolfpack player Kole Gray, 18, said,
“I had no idea how many kids were
interested in playing darts until we
started holding these tournaments.
It has been awesome seeing kids as
young as 5 playing every week. Some
of these kids are future members of
the Wolfpack.”
On top of these tournaments, The
Wolves’ Den & Wolfpack plan to be
heavily involved in the community
and in charity work. They have been
accepted to host an official event as
part of their town’s annual Harvest
Festival to crown the 1st annual festi-
val youth dart champion. Winners in
different age brackets will be awarded
trophies for the event.
The Wolves’ Den is also heading up
a Suicide Awareness & Prevention
Adult/Youth Doubles Charity dart
tournament on Sunday Sept. 17, 2017.
They will also be holding a 50/50
raffle and selling Awareness T-shirts
the entire month of August. This will
be a 100% charity event and every
penny will be given to the American
Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The Wolves’ Den slogan is “Aiming
to Make a Difference” and this is the
perfect start to doing just that.
The Wolfpack and the Junior pro-
gram have big plans and are very
excited for the year to come.
2018 Wolfpack Junior National Team:
Kole Gray (18)
Kathleen Villarreal (18)
Dallas Winters (15)
Cameran Runge (16),
Chance Taylor (16)
Marinda Bibler (14)
Kilee Jean Molczyk (14)
Ayden Hansen (12)
Kade Hansen (15)
Coaches:
Steve Garrean Jr.
Matt Winters
Larry Runge
18
Week 2 Champions
Trenton Marasco & Haiden Douglas
Week 2 Runner Ups
Dylan Dietl & Easton Ford
Week 3 Champions
Trenton Marasco & Aly Winters
Week 3 Runner Ups
Amelia Garrean & Trenton Douglas