I had the privilege of listening to Mike Novogratz speak at the pre-meet social at this weekend’s NWCA All-Star Classic.  He left us all energized and encouraged. Here is his speech below. . . notice if you would the differences between what those who have achieved are saying and those who are struggling to lead are doing?

A Call to Action

By Mike Novogratz – Chairman of the Board-Beat the Streets-New York City

Thanks for inviting me here.  What a great event.  Thanks to Mike Moyer and the NWCA.  I grew up here in Fairfax County, learned to wrestle in the Mount Vernon youth league program, and then wrestled at Fort Hunt High School.  It feels good to be home.  Last time I was thinking about George Mason University it was because I lost to a guy named Troy Emerson.  It was my senior year in college.  I’m still pissed off about it.  I wasn’t a great wrestler but I rarely lost to guys I thought I was supposed to beat and I look back at that match as an upset.  It’s funny how we always remember our losses.  26 years later and I’m still pissed about Troy Emerson.  There is something in the character of a wrestler that focuses on the losses.

Wrestlers love to turn losses into gains, to use the ignominy of defeat, and turn it into motivation, to drive, to a yearning for something better.  It is part of the DNA of this sport.    Yes, Dan Gable is still haunted by Larry Owings, just like all of you are haunted by someone, some match.

I hope we look back on that decision to exclude wrestling from the Olympics as one of the greatest days in our sport.  While it was humiliating, and frustrating, and cost a lot of people time and money to reverse, it was wake up call, a shot of adrenaline into a sport that needed energy, a major call to arms.   It was Troy Emerson or Larry Owings.  It was motivation.

We responded.  Here in the US and around the world wrestlers woke up.  New energy came into our sport.  The Committee for the Preservation of Olympic Wrestling (CPOW) was set up to harness this energy and direct it to a sole mission of keeping wrestling in the Olympics.  There were major leadership changes at FILA which have left the international governing body in a far better place.  Nenad Lalovic seems to be a decent man and a politically savvy operator who has helped our sport in a time of need.  That said, it is my firm belief that this should only be the beginning.   We need to continue to push for wrestling’s leadership to be accountable at the international level and to continue to make changes that insure we grow.   I fought and lost to have the two styles combined to one, to simplify the sport, to unify the resources around one wrestling, to help with gender parity issues which are important in all levels of the sport.  I still believe this should be part of the future of wrestling and will fight for it.

Our own National Governing Body, USAW came under a lot of criticism for its role leading up to the decision to drop wrestling.   Rich Bender and his team have worked hard at responding to the challenges we faced as a sport.  They deserve credit for a fight well fought.   But they also need to be held accountable to make the changes necessary to move our sport forward.  I believe the scorecard for how to judge the team at USAW should be easy to create.    Is our sport rising or falling?   Are the US Open and the world team trials world class events?   Are we getting mainstream media coverage?  Are we getting on TV?   These should be the metrics on how the team is doing.   If in two years the answers to these questions aren’t heading in the right direction, then leadership change will be necessary.    I want to say publicly that I have faith that we will get there.

I love talking about energy, every time I do I mention Tom and Terry Brands.   They have been my role models when it comes to injecting energy into our sport.  Theirs is energy of sheer passion.  It infects their wrestlers, their room and their program.  Go to an Iowa home match, or watch one on TV and you see energy.   Our sport needs energy.   I have tried in my own way to demonstrate what energy can do with our annual Beat The Streets events – from the Intrepid, to Time Square, to the Grand Central Terminal.   These were good first steps, but we can do so much more.

Our sport is at a crossroads.  We have a ton of good things going on.  Tonight’s matches are a testament to that.   Last week I watched wrestlers and ex-wrestlers square off in Agon 1 where the athletes got paid and lots of fans tuned into to Flo Wrestling to watch it live.  Soon we will have the Grapple at the Garden.  I think tonight, there is a great event at Lehigh, the Russians will wrestle our national team.  The college season starts with a new focus on the national duals.  We have two legitimate superstars in our sport in Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Dake.  I firmly believe both of these kids can be crossover athletes bringing non wrestlers into their following.  Wrestling as a sport is on the move.  The opportunity is at our feet.  The future is now.

The question I want to address is what we can do to go from a great sport with a passionate fan base to the Big Leagues – to rightfully be seen as a tier one sport both here and in the international arena.  I am going to start at the most senior levels and work down to youth leagues.

So first and foremost it is to get on TV.  I recently decided that I would redirect my efforts around our sport from the non-profit world to the for-profit world.   We need to get more wrestling on TV and I am going to try.   Furthermore, I am confident this isn’t just a pipe dream.   Dana White, the Ferttita Brothers and UFC have shown us the way.   What does UFC and MMA do much better that wrestling right now?   Three things.  They tell stories.  They promote.  And they put on world class events.   The raw material is just another combat sport.   It’s no more exciting than a great wrestling match.   We need to get into the story telling business – to create narratives around our heroes and our villains.   We need to promote our events.  And we need to make sure the events have energy.   It is that simple and that difficult.   This isn’t a one year process, it will take four years to build a crossover fan base but once we do, the dividends will be tremendous.   It will change everything.

I want every coach, athletic director or president of a club to know that it is essential to see “putting butts in seats” as part of their job.  We have an exciting sport.   We have traditionally done a lousy job at selling it.   Programs need to focus on developing a narrative around their athletes, their rivalries, their dreams.   A full gym is one of the best recruiting tools a coach can have.  This requires a commitment to run things on time, to make tournaments fan friendly and maybe not last 12 hours a day, to think about doing things differently.   At the college level it requires the coaches and the team to recruit fans, to build a base.  In the age of social media every coach or assistant is a marketer – needs to be a marketer.  We should publish the attendance of every home meet in the college season as bragging rights and a metric of what a great program is.

Our big events need to run well.  The NCAA tourney is the gold standard for a great show.  Unfortunately, it falls off tremendously from that.

The national duals need to be a sellout.  Period.  If we aren’t selling them out, someone else should get the property and have a chance to.   We need to build great wrestling properties and then grow them.

In high school, we need to refocus on dual meets and not just tournaments.   Dual meets bring in the school, the fans, and make every wrestler’s contribution important.  We need to cut back down to 12 weight classes so the duals have fewer forfeits and run tighter.   While wrestling is an individual sport, the team component is a huge part of the lessons that it teaches our kids.   Let’s not lose sight of this.

Finally, I really believe we need to delay the intense focus on competition until kids are in at least 6th or 7th grade.   We lose far too many of the kids who sign up for wrestling.   It is a tough sport and not for every kid but there is no reason to have such an intense focus on competition that we drive kids away.    I am a firm believer that as long as a kid spends four years in a real tough high school program, he will take with him lessons and skills that will benefit him in life no matter how many medals he wins.  My friend, Al Bevilacqua calls it building the base.  He is dead right.   We are fighting a ton of other great sports for the hearts and minds of the youth and their parents.  Let’s be smart about it.  I also think we need to continue to develop urban areas and turn an entire new demographic onto the awesomeness of wrestling.   There are now Beat the Street programs in 21 cities.  In 10 years, I’d like to think every big city in America has a wrestling program.

It is easy for me to stand up here and rant on about what I think needs to happen.   Please trust me in that I clearly understand that the agents of change are out there in the audience, in the gyms, in the dank wrestling rooms.   What I have tried to do with the Beat the Streets program and what Mike Moyer is doing through the NWCA is to try to give the coaches the assistance and tools necessary to thrive.  Our sport needs you.  We need a new generation of leaders.    Revolution will not happen from the top…it never does.  It will happen in lots of ways – Nuway, Agon, and Flo are three examples of ‘disruptive’ technologies that are propelling our sport forward.   They are what’s great about America and in lots of ways why I am so optimistic that wrestling is on the verge of a big breakout.   I just ask each of you to play your part.  I will certainly try to play mine.

Thank you and let’s enjoy some great wrestling.

Looking Back

USAWrestling isn’t what it used to be. I remember very vividly when the AAU were the bad guys and a fledgling group known as the USWF headed by Steve Combs wore the white hats and began making waves. To look back on it now, comparing the old AAU to the current USAWrestling, there’s not much of a difference. Both had a Board of Directors, voting members and leadership teams but in each case, the only opinion that counted came from the very top. That’s a good thing when you have people like David Stern, Roger Goodell or a Bud Selig calling the shots. They’re all businessmen who understand when politics should not impede progress. But when you don’t have that . . .

Quick History Lesson

When USAWrestling (USWF) finally wrestled control away from the AAU, philosophies changed dramatically. Gone were the days of organizations attacking one another as the primary means of improving market share. I’d like to think that was due to class, character and maturity but it probably had more to do with the length of our war and the combatants being exhausted.

Regardless of why, the outcome was monumental as the health of the sport was on everyone’s radar screen. We learned the hard way that the strength of each of the sports organizations determined the strength of the entire sport; basically the sum of its parts.

In other words, it’s perfectly acceptable to compete for market share by offering the public a better product but to get ahead by attacking the competition is to endanger mother wrestling. This is exactly what the AAU was doing then and USAWrestling is doing now.

Absolute Power Hurts Consumers

A lot of people feel we should only have one wrestling organization in America. That would be wrong. It’s the worst thing we could do. We already had one organization for decades, the AAU, and how did that turn out for us? One organization will always look out for itself and ignore the reason they exist, to supply quality goods and services. When you have two or more organizations in the same marketplace, competition assures that the consumer wins.

Look to the IOC’s decision to dump wrestling. There were quite a few unsavory issues that caused our departure. None of the bad ones were ever mentioned and for good reason. But each one was created by a lack of checks and balances. FILA’s leadership lost their way and their Board was powerless to stop it from happening.

Without competition, consumers will always pay higher prices; receive poorer service and products of inferior quality.

Competition Is Essential

Hertz is a viable, thriving business because of the pressure the other car rental companies create. Winchester owes their success to companies like Savage, Remington and Beretta. The cola industry is a multibillion dollar enterprise thanks to Pepsi and Coke marketing the heck out of their products on a daily basis. The only reason General Motors cleaned up their act in the 1970’s was because of Japan’s entry into our domestic marketplace. Up until that time GM made unspeakable cars that would rust out before consumers could finish paying for them. Of course that was assuming the cars weren’t already in the junk yard.

Competition made GM produce or perish. Granted, they didn’t like the pressure of introspection let alone having to make changes but in the end America’s car industry altered its behavior and regained its reputation.

This is where USAWrestling has been for the past decade, refusing to do what’s necessary to succeed. Instead of spending time and resources correcting deficiencies they spend it obstructing the growth of the competition. Colorado Springs should lose their National Governing Body status for the way they tread over others who don’t wear their colors. As the NGB, their primary responsibility as given to them by the USOC is to grow, develop, support and defend the sport of wrestling every way possible, not just their organization. 

I wish I didn’t understand why USAWrestling prefers to travel the path they’re on but I do. You see it’s far easier to tear the opposition down than it is to grow your own program and develop your own organization. This is why Colorado Springs is exactly where GM was 40 years ago.

We Started Our Climb During The Alphabet Soup War 

When the AAU and USAWrestling (USWF) were fighting for control over America’s international wrestling program our global competitiveness began to climb. It was this infighting between athletes and coaches, officials and administrators that forged the beginning of America’s three greatest decades of medal accumulation. It started with the era of Dan Gable and Steve Combs and ended with Stephen Neal and Jim Scherr. Athletes and administrators leading by example, working together, both measuring success by the strength of the sport, not the organization.

Today less than a handful of individuals actually govern USAWrestling contrary to years gone by and what others might tell you or the 35+ Board members might suggest. Each member of that “handful” has been carefully chosen in the likeness of leadership. That makes governance easy for the Executive Director but if you have multiple people who think alike, all but one isn’t necessary.

This is why the sport wonders what’s going on at USAWrestling. If it wasn’t for Burroughs, USAWrestling would have produced only one (1) Freestyle World Champion since the 2000 Olympics in Australia. That’s right, in 13 years, just one! But what is even more glaring and most people overlook are the staggering numbers of weight classes each year that don’t medal and go 0-2? The graphic below reflects how well the current leadership has done since taking over.

Decade – World Freestyle Medals – Leadership

1970’s – 35 – Roderick & Combs

1980’s – 56* – Combs, Rader, Scott, Kurdelmeier & Miller

1990’s – 43 – Scherr

2000’s – 21 – Bender

2010’s – 5 – Bender

* In 1980 America boycotted the Olympics. Most likely we would have won at least 5 medals given we won 7 at the 1979 World championships.

If I believed for a moment as I did 10 or 5 or even 2 years ago that we could right the ship I would be the first one patching holes and bailing. But we’re beyond that now. With the Olympic debacle and now hearing from personnel at USAWrestling complain about not being allowed to have an opinion let alone voice an opinion; well it’s more than disheartening.

Daily change is the lifeblood of growth; it’s a prerequisite to survival. It’s like the little boy who doesn’t want to change his underwear every morning. If his mother doesn’t make him, the outcome is always the same.

When I was an administrator for the AAU all I ever heard Colorado Springs say when I offered our membership benefit upgrades was, “stop being predatory Wade, you’re stealing our membership.” I’ve heard similar comments from USAWrestling regarding the current growth of Nuway.

Is USAWrestling serious; stealing memberships? I wonder if they know that no one owns consumers. People buy what they want, when they want and where they want and are likely to change their minds anytime they want. That’s capitalism at its best and at the heart of capitalism is competition. Those who compete succeed; those who don’t complain about it and watch their market share drop.

The real question is why do consumers purchase one product over another? What makes someone choose Geico over Progressive, shop at Giant instead of Safeway, trade in their Chevy for a Lexus?

The answer has something to do with either price, quality, convenience or pleasure.

Any company that doesn’t provide reasonable pricing for perceived value loses customers. Any organization that fails to make the experience of membership pleasant will see the competition gain in strength. Any product that doesn’t match the quality of another company had better find out why or watch their stock take a hit.

For USAWrestling to feel someone is stealing their membership is to be either 1) completely void of the principles of supply and demand or 2) unwilling to compete or 3) unable to compete or 4) be so arrogant as to refuse to compete.

If I were in charge in Colorado Springs I’d find out why Nuway was kicking my pants? Is it price to perceived value, product quality, convenience or customer experience? I’d learn why and we’d change to meet the needs of the consumer. Losing market share is never anything more than failing to please your customers. As to our falling medal count, completely different issue, don’t get me started.

In business, changes that will eventually be made should immediately be made. USAWrestling needs to become competitive again and understand how the sport becomes stronger. If that means new leadership, then so be it.

Lineups are starting to be announced for the NWCA All Star Classic.  A BIG match-up was announced that is equal to the Dake vs. Taylor event from last year.  This year, NCAA champion Logan Stieber from Ohio State will be wrestling NCAA champion Kendrick Maple from Oklahoma. At last year NCAA championships, Logan won at 133 and Maple at 141. Logan is going up a weight to wrestle Kendrick. This year they’ll be at 141 and 149 at the NCAA’s.

The All-Star Classic will take place on November 2nd at 7:15pm on the campus of George Mason University.  To purchase tickets to the event, visit the Ticketmaster website.  For more information on the All-Star Classic, visit the NWCA website.

It’s Time to Expand National Scholastic Rankings

Every week during the season wrestling’s electronic and print media outlets rank six different collegiate wrestling divisions two ways. First they rank the Top 25 teams in D-I followed by D-II, D-III, the NCWA, the NAIA and then the National Junior College programs. Then they rank at a minimum the Top 8 to a maximum of the Top 20 athletes in each weight class.

But on the scholastic level that has over twice as many teams wrestling as the colleges have, there is only one national ranking system. Why is that? Why do we combine schools that have a graduating class of 25 students with schools that have up to 6000 students not to mention those well-to-do private schools that have dormitories and various forms of financial assistance?

Wrestling’s various media outlets need to create a system of national rankings for the scholastic community comparable to that on the collegiate level.

Who would this hurt and why haven’t we done it before? How can we fairly or reasonably put Blair Academy in the same division as Petersburg (Alaska) high school who recently won the small school state championships but graduate somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 boys a year?

Administrators who make decisions about having or keeping wrestling as a sport need to know the resources they’re committing have a chance of paying dividends. Athletes from smaller schools who work just as hard as those from larger schools should have an equal opportunity at All- American status in size appropriate divisions. Then there are those teams who are well coached and tough as nails but don’t have access to the same sized gene pool as others do.  They should be able to be ranked as one of the nation’s elite too.

Most every state (except California) understands the importance of hosting multiple school divisions; isn’t it time the sport does that at the national level?

Honoring Clinicians

Clinicians are the only group remaining that isn’t represented at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame or recognized by any of the national media outlets. Wrestling on the other hand does pay tribute to their coaches, athletes, contributors and officials as they should but not clinicians and I can’t figure out why?

I don’t think anyone will debate the importance and skill sets of clinicians. Their contributions to man’s oldest sport are extraordinary and for most wrestlers, clinics are the only way athletes have of meeting their heroes and the legends of our sport. Shouldn’t there be a way for us to honor these men and women for their service and as a result provide incentives for their efforts?

It’s well known that annually the average clinician comes in contact with well over 10 times more students of the game than the typical wrestling coach. How they represent themselves and how well they sell our sport while impacting the lives of those they come in contact should be chronicled.

The best clinicians use entertainment as the primary weapon to make their points. They motivate through the expenditure of energy, typically oodles of it. Technically they must know a far wider spectrum of the sport than coaches do. Clinicians are forced to find creative solutions to unorthodox problems in order to “connect” with their students.

For us to not honor the contributions of clinicians is to injure this wing of our profession and slight an important sub-group of the sport. There should be a category in the Hall of Fame for clinicians and the media outlets should annually honor at the very least, a Clinician of the Year.

All Star Classic Clinic

The NWCA All Star Classic is returning to Washington DC November 2^nd. Last year’s event was a complete sellout with over 3,000 fans on a waiting list. Don’t miss all the action. It starts at noon on the campus of George Mason University with a clinic that features the Best Staff in the history of sport. There will be 25 clinicians teaching and featuring multiple national, world and Olympic champions. That’s followed by an All Star Social at 5:00pm and leads into to the Main Event, the NWCA All Star Classic with 9 returning NCAA Champions being part of the selection process. It’s going to be a great day for wrestling. More can be found at: www.wrestlersinbusiness.org/washingtondc

Here’s the line up of clinicians for the event:

Lou Rosselli, NCAA Champion; Tom Brands, Olympic and World Champion; Sunny Abe, Olympian; Lee Kemp, 3 time World Champion; Kevin Dresser, NCAA Champion; Wade Schalles, Collegiate World Champion; Wayne Boyd, NCAA Champion; Tom Scully, NCAA Champion; Greg Strobel, NCAA Champion; Teague Moore, NCAA Champion; Jim Miller, 3-time All American; Steve Fraser, World Champion; Kelly Ward, NCAA Champion; Kerry McCoy, NCAA Champion; Butch Keaser, World Champion; Pat Santoro, NCAA Champion; Jeff Buxton, Legendary Coach of Blair Academy; Carl Perry, NCAA Champion; Joe Russell, National Champion; Drew Pariano, 3-time All American; Cliff Moore, NCAA Champion; Todd Beckerman, 2-time All American; Mark Perry; NCAA Champion; Nate Carr, 3-time NCAA Champion; JJ Johnson, National Club Coach of the Year; Mike Ester, Head Wrestling Coach Indiana Tech; Jeff Bowyer, All-American; Joe Pantaleo, 2-time NCAA Finalist; Johnny Curtis, 2-time All American; Patrick Timm, 2-time All-American; Mark Cody, 3-time All-American.

Here is a well-written piece in the Huffington Post on the Olympic debacle by actor Billy Baldwin. He wrestled at Berner High in Massapequa, NY and then collegiately at Binghamton University.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-baldwin-/reflections-from-buenos-a_b_3902517.html

Good stuff, outstanding writing.

Congratulations to all that did so much for wrestling.

1. Jim Scherr for his tireless energy and effective presentation.
2. President Putin for his sophisticative (I know, it’s a new word I just made up) approach to lobbying the IOC membership.
3. America’s Big 5 business leaders who gave hundreds of hours of personal time and generous amounts of resources to the cause.
4. FILA’s new President Nenad Lalovic who is making a difference and appears to have the support of FILA’s Board. And I should hope so after the Board’s lame attempt to deny any knowledge of what befell our sport. Lalovic’s two best attributes; a) he never wrestled and b) he’s a business man.
5. Most of all, a firm handshake to the one man who single-handedly made the greatest difference on our behalf. Someone the American wrestling public has never heard of - Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah of Kuwait. He’s the President of the Association of National Olympic Committees and didn’t think the Olympics would be the Olympics if wrestling wasn’t there.

It might be interesting to note that those who weren’t mentioned above will suggest it was their leadership that won the day. I believe as time passes and the facts are known, you’ll come to the same conclusion as I have.

The downside . . . we spent over 3 million dollars and very few things changed besides some attitudes, a few rules and wrestling’s new title as Provisional Sport? We’re still at the table but instead of sitting and being served as a Core Sport, we’re wearing a white coat and doing the serving. This lasts until 2024 when we have to make another case why we’re worthy enough to be an Olympic sport.

So, what can we do to make our sport better now?

Dump the Singlet

This is a change we need to make, both collegiately and internationally.

Singlet’s have been around since the days of cavemen. The only change is animal skins have been replaced by double knit polyesters. I’m afraid the image of protruding foreheads in loin cloths doesn’t do much to convince those who don’t sit in our stands and those who don’t broadcast our events to support our cause.

One of the top reasons I hear from youth and high school athletes why they won’t go out for wrestling is – they don’t want to be seen in one of ”those” outfits. 

If you go back and look at high school yearbooks from the 1950s the kids all had six-pack abs. In the 60s, you’ll see one or two “chubby” kids, then a few more each decade, all the way up to today where 1 out of 3 kids are considered overweight or obese. Look at the yearbooks, they’re online, see for yourself.

The lesson here is not about you or what you want or what you think is right, it’s about what changes we need to make to get more wrestlers and attract more fans.

Look at what other successful sports have done. Years ago the NBA switched to baggy pants and black socks. Never in my life would I wear black socks with tennis shoes… but kids love it and the NBA has grown as a worldwide sport.

Look at college and pro football.  Each year, the roll-out of new uniforms gets bigger and bigger. The University of Oregon football team has some 384 different combinations they can wear. The NFL tweaks something every year as part of a PR blitz during the off-season to generate interest and more sales.

We need to think and act like they do!  The singlet has to go!

In its place we should see less skin and more body. Think about what I just wrote for a moment then think compression gear – think long sleeve tops and fight shorts. Take note of how MMA has taken off and introduced new gear for their sport. We need to do the same. I won’t get caught up in the details of exactly how it should be done, but here’s what a uniform change can do for us.

1. Get more kids wrestling. Far and away, the most common objection I hear to why kids don’t wrestle is that they don’t want to wear the singlet. And they definitely don’t want to play any game that divides teams by skins and shirts. Let’s be bold and address it head-on.
2. Reduce skin infections. It’s the greatest health concern wrestling has and anytime we can limit skin to skin contact, that’s a good thing.
3. Increased scoring. No more excuses like, “Coach, I couldn’t get a hold of him. He was too slippery!” The more fabric a wrestler wears, the tighter the holds become.
4. More branding opportunities.  Changing the singlet gives us an opportunity to create a new identity for wrestling and create fun new looks like collegiate football has done.
5. It’s change, exactly what the IOC has asked of us and what better way to accomplish it than with something everyone can see?

That’s the way I see it.

In closing and on a different note, I would like to personally thank Coach Bruce Burnett for all the years he’s given to the sport of wrestling. He just announced his retirement as the Head Wrestling Coach at the US Naval Academy and is certainly one of the good guys. Enjoy your travels my friend and please be safe.

This Sunday, the IOC will reinstate wrestling for the 2020 and 2024 Olympics. As soon as the announcement is made there will be many sighs of relief and cheers of joy, all heard around the globe but the question is what then? Where does wrestling go from there and how do we make sure something like this never happens again?

Three questions need to answered:

1. How did we get here?
2. How can we prevent this from ever happening again?
3. Can we leverage the media attention of the last seven months to turn lemons into lemonade?

Let’s take a closer look at the three.

1) How did we get here?

Arrogance, superiority and stupidity. Those attitudes and attribute from FILA forced the IOC to act.  Hopefully the scare of losing the world’s flagship event for wrestling was significant enough to assure that changes will continue to be made in Lucerne’s structure and personnel.

But have things really changed?  Everyone who was a member of FILA’s Board leading up to our removal from the Olympics is still a member of FILA’s Board. No one was let go and no one was disciplined. The only thing that took place was a game of musical chairs where the rascal who was President when we got the heave-ho lost his seat at the head of the table. But he’s still at the table enjoying the benefits of participation, complete with the same voting privileges as the new President.

However, I am encouraged by and grateful to FILA’s new President, Nenad Lalovic, for all he’s done to begin the changes the sport and their organization needs. It is a difficult task, and one that’s just begun.

2) How can we prevent this from ever happening again?

In one simple word, the answer is – leadership .  To whom much is given, much is expected. If FILA and to a lesser extent USAWrestling were a corporation with stock holders every top level executive would have been given pink slips. They cost wrestling millions and millions of dollars to repair broken relationships with the IOC not to mention our PR nightmare. Regardless if they knew this was coming down the pipe or not, they’re in power to know. Just as ignorance of the law isn’t a defense in our court system, not being aware that we were about to be let-go should be justification enough to let leadership go as well. Combine all the resumes of each of our leaders both home and abroad and read each one carefully. Nowhere will you find phrases like, “Occasionally I don’t know what’s going on” or “there are times when I’ll allow things to happen that I know are wrong.” To not know is to be ineffective, to not understand is to be unwise, to not resign is to be self-absorbed.

3) Can we leverage the media attention of the last seven months to turn lemons into lemonade?

In the turbulent world we live in, regardless of the position an individual, organization or nation takes, there will always be others who see things differently. What remains a constant of agreement worldwide is sports and music. They transcend the fray, overcome conflicts and unite differences. Regardless of your political or religious views or national ties, everyone enjoys a good concert or an exceptional sporting event.

Think about it, here we are, a small, low-profile sport bringing together Muslims and Christians, Iranians and Americans, even the AAU, Nuway and USAWrestling are one in this cause. Anything that powerful should be bottled and sold.

This is our message.  This is our purpose.

It started with wrestling…

Think about what that could mean, the use of sports as a means of establishing understanding and tolerance toward the world’s differences? For decades we’ve been looking for a message that would resonate with the media and elevate wrestling. Why not take advantage of what the sport just began? In 7 short months we became the thread that began to bind the planet’s philosophic fabric.

Instead of “man’s oldest sport” which has forever been our “go to” slogan; maybe we should try “It started with wrestling” and develop a marketing campaign around it.

That’s the way I see it at least.

At least in my opinion we are, but not as a provisional sport. Instead I believe the IOC will reject their Executive Committee’s decision to eliminate wrestling and keep it as a core sport. Translation: we’re back!

Why would they take that position?

Because of the amount of support wrestling received at the global level. It caught them completely off guard. President’s, Kings and King Makers have all come together to create immense diplomatic and financial pressure on the IOC.

How sure are you Wade?

Say 90%, because the IOC is both a sporting organization and a political body. That means they will always take the path of greatest benefit and least resistance. By ignoring their Executive Committee’s decision wrestling automatically comes back and the IOC only has two sports to choose from instead of three. Whichever they select, Squash or Baseball/Softball, the IOC wins. They took a pressured situation and gave it a good ending.

Note to the wrestling community: These outcomes have little to do with FILA’s rule changes or anything that USAWrestling will tell you they did to make this possible.  Actually, Colorado Springs spent a lot of money they didn’t have to do things it appears they didn’t need to do.

Hopefully this scare will keep FILA on the right track and become the impetus for change at USAWrestling.

So we’re clear, I truly believe that USAWrestling is a great organization but one that has gone astray over the past 20 years. The organization, its structure and vision desperately needs a daily dose of fixes for an indefinite period of time.  It’s not my goal to have my opinions used by others as a catalyst for war but instead as a Phoenix from which the sport can rise.

To begin . . . the following paragraph is the IOC’s Mission Statement regarding gender equity relative to events and administrative structures.

“The IOC is committed to gender equity in sport. The Olympics Charter states that one of the roles of the IOC is “to encourage and support the promotion of women in sport at all levels and in all structures, with a view to implementing the principle of equality of men and women.” Its commitment extends well beyond its efforts to increase women’s participation in the Olympic Games. The IOC also recognizes that gender equality is a critical component of effective sports administration and continues to support the promotion of women and girls in sport at all levels and structures.

So the question becomes, how will the role of women in wrestling play into the IOC decision this September? Here are my thoughts:
Continue reading →

In the last few weeks I have received many emails regarding FILA and USAWrestling.  Here are some excerpts for you.  I’ll let their words take the issue front and center.
Continue reading →

It’s wonderful that wrestling received eight of the 15 votes to become one of three sports who will make presentations in September. But in no way does this mean we have room for optimism. To the contrary, all that took place in St. Petersburg was we overcame the challenges of five considerably weaker opponents while failing to persuade seven other Executive Committee members that we’re a sport worth saving.

So Let’s Look at the Competition
Continue reading →

Statement from USA Wrestling President, Jim Ravannack

“USA Wrestling is pleased with the decision of the International Olympic Committee Executive Board to select wrestling as one of the three sports on the short list for consideration for a position in the 2020 Olympic Games program.
Continue reading →

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — As the man leading wrestling’s charge to preserve its Olympic status, Nenad Lalovic believes he’s done what it takes. Continue reading →

I Vote For Squash!?

Wow, I mean wow . . . here’s a video EVERYONE should watch. It’s Squash’s prelude to being accepted into the Olympic Games and one of wrestling’s main competitors.
Continue reading →

May 10, 2013

Following his resignation given on February 16^th, 2013, the former President of FILA, Mr Raphael Martinetti, has sued FILA in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Continue reading →

How We Got Here?

It’s often said, “It’s wiser to whisper advice from cover than risk doing it while walking point.” Although I understand the benefits of whispering, there is simply too much riding on the sport’s current issues to remain silent. 
Continue reading →

I wish my crystal ball was a little clearer regarding next month when the IOC revisits their recommendation to drop wrestling. But I want to remind everyone that they shouldn’t be misled by IOC’s use of the word “recommendation.” Corporations often use the term when they really mean, “we’ve made a decision.” It’s a way to muzzle those whose ox was just gored, or is about to be gored. In no way does this term mean the sport doesn’t have a chance of recovery if we play our cards right. It’s simply means the IOC is using it as a measure to delay any retaliatory attack our sport may wish to launch.
Continue reading →

What irks me almost as badly as losing our membership in the Summer Games is the way the leadership in Colorado Springs is parlaying it into their gain. The approach is as old as time itself; attack any crisis you have a hand in creating, deny any responsibility, demonstrate shock and dismay, create a call to arms, lead the charge, win the day and then go back to playing golf.
Continue reading →