Help is on the way for a popular wrestling club that has a rich history in the city.

It was back in 1976 when the Bhullar Wrestling Club (BWC) was established at the family’s farm on Sidaway Road. It’s where current UFC fighter Arjan Bhullar and his cousin Jag began their promising amateur wrestling careers.

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More recently, the club has been running a free youth wrestling program which has proven to be extremely popular.

That has resulted in a waitlist for the past two years and the club is hoping to accommodate more children by moving to a larger facility.

“With over 50 registered kids, BWC is the only wrestling program run in Richmond, completely volunteer based,” explained Jag. “Our goal is to keep it that way. We don’t want to charge the kids, we just want to grow the sport in the city where we grew up and the city that we represented as we competed.”

Richmond councillor Bill McNulty visited BWC two weekends ago and was impressed.

“Programs like these are what we need in Richmond. With the number of students in here, they definitely need more space,” McNulty agreed.

BWC is now working with McNulty and city officials in hope of finding a larger gym for the club to keep growing.

Despite the lack of space, BWC has continued to develop B.C. high School and national level champions.

“Crowded classes make it more difficult to give every child the amount of attention they need, and it also limits the amount of time each child is able to spend on the mat,” continued Jag.

“We have the support of our community. We have held large scale wrestling events in Richmond. We have the support of the British Columbia Wrestling Association and the entire BWC community.

“We are very excited to gain the support of councillor McNulty in this endeavour. All of us thank him for his visit, his support in our club, and his recognition of our need. We are optimistic that he will help us find a solution!”