... Attention Panther Football Alumni! ...

We are looking for any pictures of past Greendale football players that played college football. The Greendale Panther coaching staff would like hang these pictures in the newly renovated weight room at the high school in an attempt to start a special display area of past Panther players that have went on to play college football. It doesn't matter what division or what school.

If you have large pictures, we would love for you to send them in along with your name, the school you played for, your position, and the years you played. The easiest way would be if you could have them digitized at the highest resolution possible so that we could print then and frame them. Please attached the picture(s) and email them here.

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2009 In Review
R. A Mattrisch - 12/26/09

Well another successful season has come and gone. Of course the varsity didn't get as deep into the playoffs as they have in the past, but they did make it to the playoffs for the 4th year in a row. This is always an accomplishment considering that there are teams out there that haven't been to a playoff game in over 10 years.

So why has Greendale been so successful lately? Well, in my opinion, I think it starts with the proper attitude. You have to want to be the best. There is a saying out there that goes, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." I guess that means the horse will only drink if it wants to. The same holds true for all of the guys that decide to play the game. Our coaches can show them where the field is and teach them football, but if a player doesn't feel like it, the team won't have a chance. In simple terms, you have to want to win!

So what does it take to win? The answer is quite easy. First you need a desire to be the best. In order to be the best, you have to work harder than the other guy by preparing yourself both on and off the field. That means lifting weights... speed training... and attending skill clinics and camps. All of these tasks need to be done in order to be the best and win. Of course the real trick is getting everyone to buy into that because after all, football is a team sport. It also takes leadership. Greendale High School is blessed with what I think is the best group of coaches in the state. They are experienced, sticklers to details, hard working, organized, and probably the biggest and most important attribute... they are enthusiastic and have fun! This is what rubs off onto the players. When you throw all of this into a bowl, and mix it up real well, you will end up with a football team that has an attitude and the physical ability to win, not to mention have fun while doing it. This is what Greendale does and that's why they are successful.

Everyone knew at the start of the season that there were a lot of shoes to fill. As with any high school season, teams have to deal with new personal every year. This also will dictate a team's personality for each year. Sometimes teams will enter the season with a lot of new faces, which is always construed as a young team. Younger teams usually struggle a little more because of their inexperience at the varsity level. To win with the young team that Greendale had this year was quite an accomplishment to say the least. The upside of fielding a young team is that the following year, they won't be considered young anymore. They would now be considered experienced veterans. The more veterans you have, the better your chances are of going all the way. That is simply a fact of life. If the work ethic remains at a high level, I truly believe that the Panthers will make some serious noise next year. The varsity finished this year with an overall record of 7-3, which is obviously a winning season. If you were to ask any of the players and coaches if that was good enough, I have a feeling that they would all replay, "NO!"

It was refreshing to see the not to publicized varsity reserve team do so well this past year. It's remarkable what they can do on a game field with the short amount of time they actually spend together practicing as a unit. This tells me a lot about their character as individual players. What puts a smile on my face is that these guys have plenty of football left and it's a given that they will get better as each year passes. How much better? Well that's totally up to the individual. Rest assured that the coaching staff will be on them like white on rice in making them the best that they can be. It did look a little troublesome those first two games, but I think that was because of the amount of time they were able to spend together as a unit. By the 3rd game, everything was worked out and a finely tuned machine was born. So finely tuned that they ran the table-winning 7 games in a row and only allowing 30 points total. That's 4.28 points per/game. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

The freshman will always come in as a big question mark. That is because there is little known about them as players... it's their first year at the high school... and they are going to be taught a highly sophisticated offense that requires a lot of time to learn. The key to that is the coaching staff. They have to handle things with kid gloves and yet they have to keep the fire hot! I found it very disheartening that several schools in the conference this year were unable to field a team. That's an indication that there is no fire present. Because of that, some last minute scrambling had to be done to fill those vacant games. My hat goes off Greendale's Athletic Director Gina Wilkins who managed to replace those games so that the freshman could play a complete seven game schedule. My only regret was that "Mother Nature" interfered in the Greenfield game, which was developing into one of the greatest games during their season. The game ended in a tie but I sure wish there was a way that they could have finished that one. They finished with a 4-2-1 record, which is nothing to be ashamed of.

So when you add everything up, the Greendale Panther football teams did very well. There is one thing that I noticed though this year. I have been around Greendale football for 35 years now and I have NEVER seen so many big players walking around before. Sure, you will always have a few, but when I looked at all of the levels combined this year, it became real apparent that we have a lot! I'm not sure if it is something in our water or what, but if these guys take it upon themselves to make themselves stronger and faster, Greendale could come out next year swinging a very big hammer.

And lastly... The Touchdown Club! We have increased our membership by 33% this year. That is very exciting to say the least. Hopefully that trend will continue. It is our mission to support Greendale football in any way we can. Yes, we managed to pull off a new football field that comes in very handy now... especially this year with all of the rain we had. In fact, it was so handy that our neighbors South Milwaukee and Franklin rented Greendale's field during the playoffs because their fields were unplayable. Of course, organizing the installation of that field is now history. It's time to take on a new project. At this point in time, all we are going to say is that there are things in the works and we will let everyone know when we have a solid plan in place. We did finish the installation of the "Stephen J. Gavinski Memorial" this year. You will walk by it when you walk into the main stadium gate. This was a very exciting project that we were happy to be involved with. We held several fundraisers this year that included our dunk tank and a Brewer game outing that was extremely successful and fun! We are planning on doing that again. Of course Greendale football doesn't only exist at the high school level, it also exists at the grade school level. The Greendale Panther Youth Organization was gracious enough to present a check in the amount of $3000.00 from a fundraiser they held during the season. We all would like to thank them; especially the people that helped organize it. That group understands that the young players that play at that level will eventually end up playing at the high school. This is one of the key reasons as to why Greendale football is so successful.

Rodney Mattrisch
(GPTC webmaster)

On a personal note, I want to thank everyone that helped out in making this website and the GPTC a huge success. There are a few people that I would especially like to thank. Chuck Cairns and Chris Ksobiech. Chuck is our long time photographer and video guy and Chris is our field side game videographer. Gina Wilkins from the high school who provides us with a lot of information regarding the football program, the entire GHS football coaching staff for their cooperation in letting us cover and provide all of the media coverage for the different teams, and of course all of the parents and fans that support Greendale football. I would be remise if I didn't say a special thank you to all of the members of the GPTC, especially the leadsmen, Tim Nethery and Keith Ringelberg. Without their drive and tenacity, the GPTC would not be what it is today. I really enjoy working with all of them.

That will do it for this year. It is my intention to continue on as I have in the past so that friends, family, and most of all, alumni of Panther football will have an easy way to keep up with one of the finest high school football programs around. This website will now become somewhat dormant for a while as we wait for the 2010 season to arrive. We may post a few stories as they pop up but until then, feel free to check in and browse around for there is plenty of content and history available. When the season gets closer, this site will then rise up from it's nap so that we can bring you coverage of the complete 2010 Greendale High School Football Season.

Until then... best regards,

Rodney,