William Merola, a member of the Farmingdale School District’s wrestling program, was recently selected to attend the third annual U.S. Marine Corps Summer Leadership and
Character Development program, which is limited to 150 sophomores and juniors throughout the nation.
Over the summer, from July 20-26, Merola attended the third annual Marine Corps recruiting command summer leadership and character academy at the USMC base in Quantico.
The SLCDA (Summer Leadership and Character Development Program) educates high school leaders about Marine Corps Officer Programs by participating in classroom academics, ethics training, accelerated college prep, physical fitness training, a field exercise, a community service component and a field trip to Washington, D.C.
“We came together for 6 days, to experience an incredible journey,” Billy said about his overall experience.
“We had one goal to better our skills as leaders, strengthen our ethics and carry out what we learned for the rest of our lives.”
Many of the accepted students will carry their newly learned and redefined leadership traits back into the schools, athletic teams, volunteer work and jobs.
Billy will utilize this experience as a stepping stone on his way to becoming a United States Marine. Also, Billy will lead the Dalers Wrestling Team as a senior Captain for the 2014-2015 season.
“Billy, the Kid”, as Coach Garcia likes to call him, “is a well-rounded student-athlete who understands the hard work, dedication and leadership needed to be successful on and off the mat. We are very proud of Billy for his acceptance into this elite program and the manner in which he represents the Farmingdale Wrestling program and the Farmingdale school district.”
As a Wrestler Billy has devoted tremendous time in the off-season, with his team, to prepare for the up and coming winter wrestling season. Billy led the team through the “H2W” (Here to Wrestle) wrestling program in the spring run by Varsity Assistant Coach and NCAA Champion Artie Weidler, New York State Finalist Brian Herald and Greco National Champ Willie Warren.
Billy attended The Cornell Wrestling Camp with 15 other team members, competed in the “Island-Wide Duals” held at Locust Valley High School for 2 weeks and was also selected to attend the prestigious “1000 Island Duals” in Rochester, N.Y. with many of the top wrestlers on Long Island including teammates Kevin Depalma, Tyler Sullivan, Edgar Torres, Peter Cestare, Naquan Warren, Nick Capuano and Ryan Charleston.
Billy will wrestle this season at the 120-126 pound weight class for the Dalers.
—Submitted by Coach Kenneth Garcia
