They opened up their family home to keep amateur wrestling alive in Richmond. Now, the Bhullars are bringing the city its first-ever competition.
The Western Canada Age Class Championships take place Jan 16-17 at the Richmond Olympic Oval and culminates months worth of talks with the city officials. The event has been sanctioned by Wrestling B.C. and is expected to attract an estimated 800 school age athletes, ranging from a 12 and under division to juvenile for 17-and-18-year-olds.
“The cool thing is it’s one of the carding events for youth athletes who want to compete at provincials and the nationals down the road so all the best will be there. We also will have competitors from across Canada and down south too,” said organizer Jag Bhullar. “We’re hoping to make it successful enough to be an annual event. We are very excited to be doing this.”
While the Oval is providing the space and bleachers, Bhullar and volunteers will have to supply all the equipment by travelling around to Lower Mainland schools to round up enough mats and score clocks. It means some hectic days leading up to the tournament but Bhullar would have it no other way.
The gym on the family’s Sidaway Road property, where Bhullar and his cousin Arjan began their journey to become world class wrestlers, is now home to the Bhullar Wrestling Club where kids have a chance to learn the sport at a minimal fee. Only insurance costs must be paid, with Bhullar and other coaches volunteering their time. The sessions are filled to capacity.
On Tuesday, the club hosted a Christmas party where all participants were given medals and special awards were also presented.
“A lot of our kids don’t compete yet so this gives them some positive reinforcement and helps inspire them to keep going,” explained Jag.
“We only decided to do this because we are from Richmond and we were unwilling to let wrestling die here. As you can see, we have created a buzz here. To see it growing makes it all worth it to me. This is my passion and my wife Sonia has helped me a ton too with all the paper work.”
The Hilton Vancouver Airport and Executive Airport Plaza have already come on board as tournament sponsors to provide special rates for out-of-town athletes.
Organizers welcome more potential sponsors by contacting Jag Bhullar at 778-896-6596 or by email at [email protected]
