By Mike May
The Wellington Wolves travel basketball organization is more than a local group that provides guidance and coaching on how to play the game of basketball to area children. For the last 13 years, the Wolves have taken the time to shine a spotlight on its young basketball players for their academic achievements, as well. Just recently, the Wolves honored many of their basketball players for their success at school. On Wednesday, May 22, 106 Wellington Wolves players – and their parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents – were invited to Village Park in Wellington where they were recognized for their excellent grade point averages (GPAs) during the recently completed spring 2024 semester. According to Wellington Wolves President Chris Fratalia, there were two categories of academic recognition: Honor Roll and Top Gun. The Honor Roll recipients earned all A’s and B’s during the spring 2024 school semester, while the Top Gun recipients earned all A’s during that same grading period. Of the 106 boys and girls, 62 of them were Honor Roll honorees and 44 were Top Gun winners. The 106 student-athletes recognized this year is an improvement over the 81 student-athletes honored a year ago by the Wolves organization.
The key to this academic success story is that the Wellington Wolves, under the leadership of its 11-member Council of Dads committee, have implemented a 32-week tutoring program during the school year where the Wolves players and their siblings are provided complimentary tutoring by bright area high school students who are looking for community service hours which are necessary for their high school graduation.
Those tutors, who are paid with funds provided by the Council of Dads and the Wellington Community Foundation, come from Wellington High School, Palm Beach Central High School, Park Vista High School and The King’s Academy. This past year marked the seventh year of the tutoring initiative, under the supervision of the Council of Dads, which is guided by its founder John Sitomer.
The tutoring sessions are held, after school, at the Wellington Public Library, located off Forest Hill Boulevard in Wellington.
“The Wellington Public Library has been a great asset as we have free access to computers and private rooms for the tutoring sessions, where we tutor in eight subjects,” said Sitomer. “We also provide free snacks and drinks for the students and their tutors. We can’t thank the Wellington Public Library enough for its ongoing support. The tutoring sessions often last for two hours. The Wellington Public Library has been a lifesaver for our tutoring program.”
In addition to the 106 scholar-athletes who were recognized, the Wellington Community Foundation, represented by longtime local resident Jim Sackett, presented a check to the Wellington Wolves/Council of Dads for its continued financial support of the tutoring program.
The Council of Dads membership includes Sitomer, Fratalia, David Kane, Howard Eisenberg, Jeff Sitomer, Grant Johnson, Gordon Johnson, Rafi Wynn, Gerry Stumm, Peter Smith, and James Shecter.
