Zinke disappointed in numbers
Dundee-Crown wrestling coach Al Zinke has won over 500 career dual matches and led many wrestlers Downstate in his three-decade career on the sidelines.
His program is regarded by many as the gold-standard of area high school wrestling programs.
But Zinke, a Hall of Famer who is retiring at season's end, has never seen anything like what his program is experiencing this year.
Zinke estimated his 2007-2008 squad had 70 wrestlers (all levels).
That number has atrophied to 22 (not including freshmen) this season. With freshmen, the number is 39 - still far below last year's turnout.
Zinke feels the drop is related both to the deteriorating economic situation in the country and District 300's athletic user fee ($150 per sport per athlete, according to Zinke).
"This user fee is killing our wrestling program," said Zinke. "It's really discouraging that in a school of 2,500 kids our numbers are like that. I'm totally shocked. It's the lowest in my lifetime here. Even when we had 750 kids at Crown, we had 80 kids out. One parent told me they have paid $3,450 already in user's fees for their two kids while they have been here and one kid still has one more sport left. You tell me if that hurts our sports turnout here? One-hundred and fifty dollars is a lot of money.
"We've added teachers and staff in the district," continued Zinke. "That referendum a couple of years ago, they said if it didn't pass they would eliminate sports. Who helped push for that referendum? The athletes and cheerleaders were out there trying to get support because they didn't want to lose sports. Absolutely nothing has changed. The athletic user fee hasn't dropped. We don't get to add coaches. The athletes went out to help try and get the referendum. What did they receive for their efforts? A zero. Athletics is supposed to be about developing young people. Their involvement in extra curricular activities is important. I'm really disappointed."
On the topic of his retirement, Zinke gave a rousing endorsement for current varsity assistant Gus Silva to take over the program next season.
"Gus has earned the right," said Zinke. "He's put in a lot of extra time. He's certainly deserving of it. He certainly should be the person."
Despite the low numbers in the wrestling room, Zinke is enjoying his current crop of wrestlers.
"I've really enjoyed this season so far," said Zinke. "I have high hopes and I think they do, too. There is a good sense of team here. We did a lot of conditioning the other day and one kid came really late and the rest of the kids were right there cheering him on. They seem to really care about each other."