User:Jportune/Bremerton Wildcats

The Bremerton Wildcats are an American amateur basketball team based in Bremerton, Washington. Founded in 2009 as the adult men's basketball team of the Bremerton Wildcats Athletic Club, the Wildcats play in the Bremerton Park & Recreation Men's Leagues (Fall, Winter, Spring), the Olympic College Men's Summer League, the Olympic Fitness Men's League (Fall), and in Pacific Northwest regional tournaments. They have spent their entire history in the top tier of each league.

Wildcats home games are played at Olympic College, with a seating capacity of 800, but the vast majority of the time you can find them playing within the confines of the Sheridan Park gymnasium, owned and operated by the City of Bremerton.

The Wildcats official season begins each year in August, immediately following the Olympic College Men's Summer League. With the departure each fall of the alumni professional and college players, the Olympic Fitness Men's League (Port Orchard, Wash.) is utilized as a vehicle to rebuild the team with recently graduated high school and alumni alumni living in the area. Traditionally, the team is strongest during the summer months (June - July), as the professional and college players return home for the summer from their respective teams/schools.

The Wildcats are owned and operated by the Bremerton Student & Alumni Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Its mission is to assist professional players improve their game during the off-season, help college players successfully transition to professional basketball, and prepare graduating high school student-athletes for the rigors and competition of college basketball. The Alumni Association's overarching goal for the team is to raise the level of basketball in Bremerton, WA, in order for the Wildcats to step up to semi-pro competition and eventually into the professional basketball arena.

Inaugural season
The Bremerton Wildcats Alumni basketball team was the brainchild of West High alumnist Phil Olwell and his son Johnny Olwell. A 2008 graduate of Bremerton High, Johnny was interested in playing with his former high school teammates and his father brought the idea to the Alumni Association board. Searching for a way to keep recently graduated alumni involved, the board saw the long-term potential in idea of an alumni basketball team and approved the idea.

To coach the inaugural team, the Alumni Association approached Bremerton alumni Andy Olson, who had a long resume of successfully coaching Bremerton youth in the Bremerton Park & Rec leagues. For the Alumni Association, the decision proved to be the right one, as the team experienced immediate success and overnight became the talk of the town. The Wildcats opened with a 65-to-62 win over Bremerton rival Clarke Whitney, a long-time member of the Bremerton Park & Rec Men's League and holder of numerous Washington State championships. Then followed with a 59-to-58 overtime win against Port Orchard based Casey Bail Bonds. Following three consecutive losses, the team regrouped and put together a four-game winning streak, only to loss the Bremerton Park & Rec. Fall Men's tournament championship by two points (72-to-70) to the Ballaholics. Bremerton High alumni Patrick Lewis recorded a double-double in that contest for the Wildcats, scoring 26 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Shooting guard Eli Olson added an additional 15 points, converting 3 of 5 three-point shots. In the following Bremerton Park & Rec Winter League, Coach Olson piloted the team to a 6 & 2 (.750) league record but the team stumbled in the post-season tournament and were ousted by Suquamish (55-to-50) in the semi-final round.

First championship
At the beginnning of Spring 2010, former college and Bremerton High boys basketbal coach Danny Shedwin, a West High alumni, was brought in to take the Wildcats to the next level. His focus was to get the players to take a more professional approach to the game (i.e. attending practice, changing in the locker room vice next to the team bench, stretching as a team, and executing prescribed warm-up drills prior to each game). Under his leadership the Wildcats posted a 16 & 1 (.941) record and earned their first two trophies, winning the Olympic Fitness Center Spring League (9 & 1) and going undefeated (7 & 0) in the subsequent Olympic Fitness Center Summer League. Following the perfect season, Coach Shedwin resigned due to the current players unwillingness to change their approach to the game.

Starting point guard for the 1999 Bremerton High 5th place WIAA State Tournament team took the reigns of the Wildcats heading into the 2010 Olympic College (OC) Summer League. Over the course of the next year, he piloted the Wildcats to a 2nd place finish in the 2010 OC Summer League and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) Summer Tournament, as well as a _ place finish in the 2011 Bremerton Park & Rec. Winter League and a _ place finish in the Bremerton Park & Rec. Spring League. Although, his most notable coaching accomplishment is sending the first three Wildcats on to college - Eli Olson, Nate Perry, and Ricky King. He is also the first Wildcats coach to step-up into the college coaching ranks, accepting an Olympic College assistant men's basketball coaching position at the start of the 2011-12 season.

Olson played in 16 games, starting 5, for the 2010-11 Olympic College Rangers, average 7.6 points per game (ppg) and shot 42% from three-point range. His college basketball career ended pre-maturely due to a prior ankle injury. He returned to play for the Wildcats in the Winter of 2011.

Perry played in 9 games for the 2010-11 Rangers, averaging 0.6 ppg and 1.0 rebounds per game (rpg). Following graduation from Olympic College, he went on to pursue his bachelor degree at a four-year school.

King's 2010-11 Olympic College season ended after 5 games due to personal reason. He returned to play for the Wildcats during the 2011 Olympic Fitness Center Fall League and helped the team win the Winter 2012 League & Tournament championship.

With the departure of Olson, Perry, and King to Olympic College, the Wildcats did not field a team for the 2010 Bremerton Park & Rec. Fall League. Instead, they loaned out their top two players - point guard Michael Gurske Jr., and forward Jerry Laws - to Bremerton rival Clarke Whitney, who subsequently won the fall tournament championship.

For the summer of 2011, West High alumni Phil Olwell became the Wildcats 4th head coach. He guided the team to a 14 & 2 record, claiming the team first OC Summer League and PSNS Summer League championship. He stepped down at the end of the summer due to a new full-time job schedule.

Bremerton alumni and certified exercise physiologist Ron Atkins took control of the Wildcats at the start of the 2011 season. Immediately he expanded the mission of the team by adding incoming sophomore Deonte Dixon to the roster. Dixon was the first high school player to suit up for the Wildcats in the teams history. In the previous Alumni Association End-of-Summer League, which featured the top freshman talent in Kitsap County, Dixon lead Wildcats JV team and the league in scoring, averaging 16.8 ppg. and 10.1 rpg. Although he played in just nine games - Port Orchard Fall League (4) and Bremerton Park & Rec Fall League (5) - and received limited playing time, the experience of playing in the bigger strong faster men's league proved to be vital for his 2011-12 high season and one of two sophomore players on the Bremerton High boys basketball team. In late February, following the completion of the high school season, Dixon returned for the final six games and helped the Wildcats win their first Bremerton Park & Rec Winter League and Tournament championship.

Mid-way through the 2011 Bremerton Park & Rec. Fall League Atkins resigned in frustration. No matter what approach he took, and he utilized many, the current players refused to regularly attend practice or attend individual strength & conditioning sessions in order to elevate their game in order to move into the Seattle basketball leagues. During his tenure, Coach Atkins guided the Wildcats to a 9 & 4 (.692) record.

Youth movement
Alumni Association Executive Director and former Olympic College coach Jim Portune stepped in to fill the void with Coach Atkins departure. Immediately he implemented a game stats performance based system to determine which Wildcats player would start each game. Many of the players, who believed that longevity and past-seasons performance (i.e. college/high school) should be the criteria for starting, chaffed at the new way of doing things. Several disgruntled players left to play for other teams and in their absence the Wildcats went on to finish 2nd in the Bremerton Park & Rec. Fall league and then win the 2012 Bremerton Park & Rec. Winter League and Tournament championship for the first time in the team's history. Eli Olson (16.9 ppg.) and Ben Wilson (15.9 ppg) lead the team in scoring but it was the return of Patrick Lewis (9.8 ppg., 6.4 rpg.) from The Evergreen State College and Josh Koets (7.4 ppg., 4.8 rpg.) from Olympic College that gave the Wildcats the depth they needed to pull of the duel wins. Following that league, Wilson signed with the newly formed Kitsap Admirals and became the first Wildcat to move up to semi-pro basketball.

Following Coach Atkins' example, Coach Portune continued the youth movement as a means to build the Wildcats into one of greater-Seattle's top semi-pro basketball teams. Winter 2012, Tim Pounds and Marshall Stevens became the first graduating Bremerton High seniors to join the Wildcats. Additionally, on April 9, 2012, Mountain View Middle School 8th grader Bernard Jenkins, a member of the Bremerton Wildcats Varsity team, suited up for a single Wildcats game. In 18 minutes of action, he recorded 2 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 1 blocked shot. He proved, not only to himself but also to all those in attendance, that he was ready compete at the adult level.

Colors and Mascot
In an effort to draw the support of rival Bremerton, Wash., high school alumni - East (White & Black) and West (Blue & Gold), the Wildcats adopted black and gold as their official team colors, a compromise of both schools colors. The current Bremerton High School, the sole remaining secondary school in Bremerton, Wash., official colors are blue and gold. For games, the team wears a gold jersey, black undershirt (optional), and black shorts.

The Alumni Association adopted the Wildcat as the team mascot for two reason: 1) it was the Union/Bremerton High School mascot from 1907 to 1951; 2) the Washingotn Interscholastic Activities Assocation (WIAA), governing body of athletics and activities for secondary education schools in the state of Washington, rules restrict the use of high school mascots on out-of-season select youth athletic teams. The current Bremerton High School and the former East High School mascot is/was the 'Knights'. The Alumni Association current owns and operates four Bremerton Wildcats youth basketball teams (Wildcats Varsity, Wildcats JV, Wildcats Soph, & Wildcats MV).

Sponsorship
In 2012, the Wildcats broke away from the American sports tradition, of sponsor-less team uniforms, and adopted a European sponsorship approach. Tim's Cascade Medical Supplies became the teams first shirt sponsor, a deal worth $1,000, and the company name and logo was printed on the backside of the jersey, under the number. Shortly their after, DJ JoeFrank.com became the team's first minor sponsor, a deal worth $200 over three years, which was printed across the back shoulders of the jersey above the player number, in the spot typically reserved for a player's name.

Coaching staff

 * Head Coach: Jim Portune
 * Assistant Coach:
 * Strength & Conditioning Coach: Ron Atkins
 * Statistician: Esperanza Jackmon-Jackson

Honours
The Bremerton Wildcats won their first trophy on June 8, 2010 in the Olympic Fitness Spring League. Coach Danny Shedwin led the Wildcats to a 47-to-42 victory over Gray in the championship game. Then, in the subsequent Olympc Fitness Summer League, the Wildcats put together their first perfect season and claimed their second trophy with a dominating 76-to-39 victory over Quail in the championship game.

Their first tournament win came on July 19, 2011 in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Summer tournament under Coach Phil Olwell over Got'em Coach, playing out of Fort Lewis. It was the Wildcats second year in the tournament. The year prior (2010), the Wildcats and Got'em Coach faced each other in the championship game and Got'em Coach walked away with the championship trophy, 78-to-75, on a 25-foot three-point shot with no time remaining in the game, that hit all net. In 2011, the Wildcats advanced through the tournament undefeated and lead Got'em Coach 50-to-38 at half-time in what would prove to be two championship games. In the second half of the first game, the Wildcats proceeded to score only 24 points and lost again by three points to Got'em Coach, 77-to-74. With identical 3 wins & 1 loss records, the double elimination tournament format called for a second championship game. So, following a fifteen minute break, the second game got underway, which the Wildcats won 80-to-67 and took home their first tournament trophy.

League

 * Bremerton Park & Rec League
 * Winners (2): Winter 2010, Winter 2012
 * Runners-up (2): Fall 2009, Fall 2011
 * Olympic College Summer League
 * Winners (1): 2011
 * Runners-up (0):
 * Olympic Fitness Center League
 * Winners (2): Spring 2010, Summer 2010 (undefeated)
 * Runners-up (1): Fall 2011

Tournament

 * Bremerton Park & Rec Tournament
 * Winners (1): Winter 2012
 * Runners-up (1): Fall 2009, Fall 2011
 * Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Summer Tournament
 * Winners (1): 2011
 * Runners-up (1): 2010