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The current Ridgeway Cardinals Home Talent Team began in 2000. This was the first season for the Cardinals back in the Home Talent League here in Southern Wisconsin. The Cardinals had been inactive for several years prior to the 2000 Season - but came back that year as our team T-shirts proclaimed “We’re BACK!!!!”. Under the Management and coaching of Rich “Skip” Hogan the Cardinals started up again after their absence. Many of the players that started that year were young Ridgeway natives that had grown up watching the “Old” Home Talent team and dreamed of following in their footsteps. Some of these players are still with us now, going into our 8th season as a team. The 2000 and 2001 season were a bit of a challenge but we seemed to be having fun (Management felt ,“Why play if you’re not having fun?”). Our records weren’t too good but we were learning and the team was still pretty young—many of the players were not even “legal” yet. So we write those years off to “immaturity” and “learning”. But we have come a long way since then. The 2002 season was when things started to turn around and the team started to work better together. Many friendships began to blossom that year as well, as the players began “maturing”. There were many close, hard fought games. In the end we could easily boast that we had given it our best shot—and the record showed it. The 2003, 2004 & 2005 season were the best ones we have had yet. All three of those years we made it to the playoffs and could taste the “Final Four” but it just wasn’t in the cards (or the Cardinals). 2006 was a season that was by all standards disappointing—we; as a team had a lot of issues, and it showed in the way the game was played. It was a rocky season and not a lot of fun for the team—we had injuries that many of our players just couldn’t get over, and unfortunately those injured players were key to the team. But... If the pre-season is any indicator, 2007 promises to be a great year—Stay tuned and see where we go from here!!
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