The Jr. Kahok baseball team will hold tryouts on Aug. 2 and begin play next year, becoming the fourth feeder program for Collinsville High School athletics.

Image by Roger Starkey

The ultimate goal of each Jr. Kahok organization is to produce the best Kahoks. Each works closely with the CHS coach of their sport to make the transition from the feeder program into CHS as seamless as possible. Each only accepts students who live within the Collinsville Unit 10 district boundaries.

Much like a minor league baseball system, the Jr. Kahoks focus on developing players and coaching them in the philosophy and terminology of the parent organization. What started as boys and girls basketball, has grown to include football, wrestling and baseball.

Assistant CHS baseball coach Josh Hartle will kick off the inaugural Jr. Kahok baseball season in 2015, but the work starts with tryouts on Aug. 2. The baseball program will field two teams. The 13U team is for students entering 6th or 7th grade in fall 2014. The 14/15U team is for 2014 8th graders and freshmen.

The Jr. Baseball Kahoks will provide instruction, not just coaching, Hartle said. The program will also provide a high level of competition, playing in what Hartle called the upper league of select.

The 14/15U team will play in the Southwest Baseball League’s junior division. The 13U team will play in the Southwest Illinois Baseball league.

Part of the baseball program’s philosophy will be to focus on ability, not size. Too many players are burned out, or give up on baseball, when they are cut at a young age for being too small, Hartle said.

“You can’t sleep on the little guy,” Hartle said.

There are no plans to extend the baseball program to younger players. If children get too competitive too early, they can burn out, Hartle said.

“If you want to compete at a higher level when you get older, that’s what we’re her for,” Hartle said.

Football

The Jr. Kahok football program will begin its fifth year of play on Aug 23. The coaches, selected by the high school coaching staff, focus on development over playoff births or super bowls, CHS Head Coach John Blaylock said.

“We are very focused on individual player development,” Blaylock said. “We also put an inordinate amount of attention on linemen. We need to create confident linemen.”

Unlike the Collinsville Raiders, the Jr. Kahoks only accept children that live within the Collinsville Unit 10 boundaries. With scholarships available for players with a financial hardship, the 5th through 8th grade teams will not turn any player away that meets residency requirements.

“The Raiders do what they do, and they do it very well, but the Jr. Kahoks are here to serve the high school,” Blaylock said.

At the very least, Blaylock said, the high school staff wants to see future CHS students in the Jr. Kahok program in 7th and 8th grade. The longer the players are with the Jr. Kahoks, the more familiar they are with the system run at CHS.

No Jr. Kahok football teams belong to leagues, which allows them to seek out the top competition. Some of the premier teams in the Metro East and St. Louis area do not belong to leagues for the same reason, Blaylock said.

With teams solely based on age, and no weight restrictions by age group or position, coaches strive to have 22 starters and ensure every player sees at least one quarter of action each game. If possible, each will play at least one half.

The program is already beginning to pay dividends, Blaylock said. In the past, of the roughly 50 freshman that would try out for the Kahok program, perhaps 15 had played before. Now, 30-35 of the players have experience. Blaylock estimates that 17 of the 22 varsity starters for the 2014 Kahoks will have come through the Jr. Kahok system.

Interested players can register at the Jr. Kahok football camp July 28-31 or by contacting Jr. Kahok Director Bob Keplar at 618 980 5340.

Basketball

Boys and girls basketball are the original Jr. Kahok programs. The grandfather and grandmother of CHS feeder programs were born to get more kids involved in basketball and to improve the CHS teams, treasurer and coach Dan Moad said.

Typically with two teams each from 3rd grade through 8th grade, the coaches are allowed to choose in which league and tournaments each team plays. The coaches are expected to stress fundamentals and follow the lead set by the CHS varsity coaches, Moad said, but are otherwise given a great deal of freedom.

As the plyers get older, they are often split into A and B teams, with the A team consisting of the players ready to compete at a higher level, Moad said. All teams play tournaments, many with true select teams.

Only players living within the Collinsville Unit 10 boundaries can play for the Jr. Kahok basketball teams. The program has a great reputation in St. Louis and tends to attract the top players in Collinsville as they get older, Moad said.

“We’re still growing as an organization, but we’re seeing more pride of the kids wanting to play with the Jr. Kahoks over select teams,” Moad said.

Girls tryouts are Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. Boys tryouts are Oct. 6 and 7.

Wrestling

A member of the Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation, the Jr. Kahok wrestlers will be entering their fourth season in November. Open to Unit 10 residents from 5 – 14 years-old, the main goal is for the kids to have fun and ensure they come back the following year, CHS Head Coach Tom Blaha said.

More wrestlers have been coming out each year. What started at 42 grapplers in year one is expected to reach 65-70 kids this year, Blaha said.

As with other Jr. Kahok programs, an emphasis is placed on teaching the basics of the sport and preparing the athletes to play at CHS. The seven basic steps of wrestling are stressed for the junior grapplers, Blaha said.

It is vital to the success of the CHS program that the incoming wrestlers already possess the knowledge the high school coach wants, Blaha said.

“I don’t have to re-teach, they know what I’m going to do,” Blaha said. “Getting them to that next level is a hard thing to do when they start as freshman and they don’t have any background.”

Another benefit to Blaha running the Jr. Kahok program is that he already knows the incoming CHS wrestlers strengths and weaknesses, Blaha said.

In only three years of competition, the Jr. Kahok wrestlers have produced three IKWF State Tournament qualifiers.

Registration for the Jr. Kahok wrestlers will be held in October and will be announced in the Metro Independent