I just received this from a friend who is a member of the international press. It defines some of our issues and supports what I’ve been saying about wrestling’s leadership. Their actions continue to speak so loudly that none of us can hear what they’re saying. Wade ____________________________ “It really is over. There was no TV… Read More »
Chapter 13 Going the political route. While there are a few of us attempting to get the sport’s act together, we need to find ways to slow the train that’s barreling down the tracks toward our destruction. Here are two thoughts we might consider, both political, and most likely iffy, but they’re worth throwing out… Read More »
Chapter 12 12. Protect our youth. Athlete retention must be a priority. We have to work at growing our numbers while expanding our revenue if we expect to survive as a sport but what a challenge that is when half of those we attract leave in the first year. The main challenge we have here… Read More »
Chapter 11 This week Mark Emmert, the President of the NCAA spoke to the Associated Press in regards to the University of Alabama-Birmingham dropping football. “I’m worried while autonomy for the Big Five conferences will lead to more money being spent on athletes it could decrease the overall number of opportunities in college sports for… Read More »
Chapter 10 10. If something is important, we need to make it important. How many of you would work on a road crew digging ditches for $1.00 an hour? Would it change your mind if you were paid $150.00 an hour? How about $400.00 an hour? Isn’t there a point where everyone would pick up… Read More »
Chapter 9 This next segment of rule changes is designed to unscript that which is boring. Some of these are as critical to implement as many of my previous suggestions and when combined together they should change the landscape of wrestling. To begin let’s minimize, no let’s eliminate the importance of starting lines. Of course I’m… Read More »
Chapter 8 7. Decisions are seldom spectator centric: The only way wrestling is going to be turned around is to run the sport through a battery of evaluations to see if it can survive in today’s market place? I think all of us already know the results of such an endeavor but it’s this kind… Read More »
Chapter 7 4. It’s also about the athlete: wrestling needs to create more heroes and legends of the mat like baseball has done with Babe Ruth and boxing with the iconic Joe Louis. We need to find ways to make our stars just as well known to the general public. So let’s start with a few… Read More »
I received this response from one of my readers. It pretty well sums up some of the challenges the sport faces. You have to understand, I’ve never been a wrestler. My father once said wrestling was gay. Even if my father hadn’t said that, I probably couldn’t have been able to wrestle. I was born… Read More »
Chapter 6 2. Coaches should coach and delegate. Just as athletes focus on competition, referees should officiate and spectators should cheer; everyone has a role on wrestling’s stage. As for coaches, they should be free to concentrate on what they do best; develop their athletes academically, train them athletically and mentor them socially. What they… Read More »
Chapter 5 Let’s take a look at a few examples of how we penalize action but please try and forget what you’re used to seeing and how you’ve become accustomed to the way things are. Instead, analyze what’s being written strictly in terms of action and non-action. If we want action I have to ask, how can we… Read More »
Chapter 4 Regarding the crew from USAToday, not one inch of copy ever made it into print. Neither the finals nor the team scores earned even a box score mention, exactly what NASCAR receives on a regular basis for something as uninteresting as qualifying times for even their lesser races. So what does all this… Read More »
If you like what you’re reading, please pass this on to others. The only way change will occur is by awakening those who make a difference; our fans. It’s obvious leadership isn’t making the changes. Chapter 3 Now I’m not sure whether our wrestling community is eternal optimists or ostriches, but too many of them point to the new spectator… Read More »
Chapter 2 Drawing a sport parallel, for the last twenty or so years Judo has been taking a beating in participation numbers and subsequent revenue dollars with the advent of the UFC where I might add, Judo players dare not tread. The meteoric rise of Brazilian Jujitsu and America’s fascination with the whole Mixed Martial… Read More »
Introduction As part of the wrestling community for over a half a century, my fondness for the sport has developed into a deep and everlasting respect. It has to be the greatest sport a young man or woman can participate in or a country can offer its children. In many ways it could be considered… Read More »
Prologue Wrestling is in absolute jeopardy of no longer being an NCAA sport by the end of this decade. But amazingly, it also has the ability to become one of America’s staples in the sports entertainment industry. Actually it’s the only sport I’m aware of that has that capability; and my reason for writing this… Read More »
It’s a common practice for school boards to adopt proposals that tie academic performance to after school activities. In most cases, if students fail to maintain a certain academic average they become ineligible to participate in after school activities like cheerleading, tennis and chorus. The prevailing philosophy is that students are more apt to improve… Read More »
Here is a great article regarding a stand out scholastic wrestler who chose football as his collegiate sport of choice. Every football coach in America should read it… http://www.centredaily.com/2013/07/25/3704383/penn-state-football-carsons-wrestling.html
For this edition of wadeschalles.com I would like to share an email thread between myself and a father who was wondering at what age is a young man ready to tackle wrestling. “In your opinion coach, how long should I wait before starting my son in wrestling?” I responded:
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… Read More »
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… Read More »
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… Read More »
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… Read More »
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. Jim Scherr for his tireless energy and effective presentation. President Putin for his sophisticative (I know, it’s a new word I just made up) approach to lobbying the IOC membership. America’s Big 5 business leaders who gave hundreds of hours of personal time and generous amounts of resources to the… Read More »
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… Read More »
Several weeks ago I placed a video here that sold the benefits of Squash. I felt it was important for you see what the other sports were doing relative to our efforts. So now it’s our turn. Please take a moment to watch this amazing piece of artistry from the desks of Nick Garone and Geoff Riccio. What a masterful job they… Read More »
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?
This is an article from yesterday’s New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/sports/wrestling-adapts-in-hopes-of-staying-in-olympics.html?_r=1& Kudos to President Lalovic and FILA. This past week they evened the weight classes from 7-7-4 to 6-6-6 as part of their efforts to become IOC compliant and reiterated their support for women in leadership positions. That was a strong move on their part. If only FILA’s previous… Read More »
