Recent Entrenchment Activities:

July 2007: 

• Met with the Eastern Illinois University (EIU) President in an effort to reinstate their wrestling program.  This was a follow up to a demonstration previously staged in connection with their Board of Trustee meeting (over 100 people arrived on buses).
• The NWCA facilitated and coordinated activities with “Equity in Athletics” to pursue litigation efforts in support of reinstating the James Madison University and Slippery Rock University wrestling programs.  We are awaiting court decisions on both fronts.

September 2007:

• Met with the Arkansas High School Athletic Association for the purposes of lobbying them to recognize interscholastic wrestling as a state championship sport.  That should be approved at a June 4, 2008 meeting that we will be attending.

October 2007:

• NWCA disseminated a public relations letter to every college athletic director and president in the nation promoting the value of intercollegiate wrestling.  We received very encouraging responses from numerous administrations.

November 2007:

•  Speaker Hastert and Dan Gable testified before the Pennsylvania General Assembly for the purposes of highlighting the important role that college sports teams (at the 14 state funded schools in PA) play in developing the next generation of high school teachers and coaches.  Several encouraging meetings with the law-makers have followed.

December 2007

• The NWCA All Star Classic attracted nearly 5,000 spectators in support of saving the University of Oregon wrestling program.  We are also collaborating with Oregon State Senator, Ben Westlund, to save the program.
• We have facilitated meetings between US Congressman Jim Jordan (2x NCAA Champion) and the Office of Civil Rights to more aggressively promote the use of the interest survey as opposed to relying on proportionality.  The OCR has agreed to lend a helping hand with the Pennsylvania General Assembly initiative.

January – March 2008

• We have collaborated with the administrations at University of Central Arkansas, Arkansas Baptist College, SUNY at Cobleskill, SUNY Albany, San Francisco Academy of Arts, Northwest Missouri State University, and Faulkner University in Alabama for the purposes of establishing new intercollegiate wrestling teams.  

April 2008

• The NWCA teamed up with Brute/Adidas to donate two wrestling mats in support of growing the number of scholastic teams in Arkansas (now at 41 teams).

May 2008:

• Collaborated with key donors in support of saving the Arizona State University athletic program.  The goal is to initially raise enough money to cover the operating budget over the next three years.   In doing so, the next three years will dedicated to raising a $4 million endowment that will sustain the program going forward.

May - September 2008

Coaching Development Initiatives – there is nobody more important to the survival of high school wrestling then the head coach.  Today, a coach needs the equivalent of CEO skills to entrench his program.  That said, the NWCA will be allocating over $400,000 between May and October 2008 toward the development of the following programs that are uniquely designed to save, establish, and/or strengthen scholastic wrestling programs:

• The NWCA has been selected to be the exclusive folk-style wrestling coaching development partner of the NFHS.  An online skills and drills course will be available to all scholastic wrestling coaches by October 2008. 
• The development of a scholastic coach’s resource manual will be complete by Fall 2008.  These resources will help to standardize the administration of intercollegiate and interscholastic wrestling programs.
• Another great threat to the future of wrestling is skin infection (i.e. MRSA related deaths).  The NWCA has partnered with Fresh Health, Inc. to develop and deliver a FREE webinar to all middle school, high school, and college athletic departments across America.  This seminar focuses on the identification, treatment, and prevention of skin infection in athletics.
• Over the past several, approximately 25% of scholastic dual meet (individual) matches have been forfeits.  While some coaches have proposed a reduction of wt. classes to rectify the problem, the NWCA has committed resources to develop online educational programs aimed at promoting “best practices” to improving the recruitment and retention of wrestlers at every level.    
• Scholastic wrestling currently ranks second (behind football) with respect to having the most reported injuries.  The NWCA has developed an online risk management program to help coaches implement “best practices” to reduce liability exposure.

Intercollegiate wrestling is obviously where our sport is most threatened.  Since 1972, we have lost over 450 intercollegiate teams.  Historically, many of these teams were the training grounds for the next generation of scholastic teachers, coaches, and mentors.    That said, the NWCA is committed to allocating over $300,000 over the next three years toward the establishment of an innovative “College Wrestling Coaches Academy” in an all out effort to protect the precious 323 intercollegiate teams that remain.  The specific goal of this initiative is empower each coach to make his intercollegiate wrestling team indispensible.  To do so, we need to overcome the following challenges:  

• It is important to understand that the NCAA only requires a member institution to sponsor 6 men’s sports at the D-I and D-III levels and only 5 men’s sports at the D-II level.   Knowing that basketball and football are most likely to be two of these sports on most campuses, EVERY college wrestling coach must be committed to making sure his wrestling program falls within the top 6 teams on campus.
• Simply having a competitive team is not enough to entrench a program today. Our teams need to be educationally sound and visible on campus and in the community.
• The coach needs to have a solid relationships with his peers, coaching colleagues, administration, alumni, athletes/parents, and friends group.     
• Intercollegiate wrestling teams need to generate revenue for the university either through ticket sales, alumni/parent giving, camps/clinics, etc.

All that said, the NWCA would like to highlight some of the measureable results of its efforts since 1999:

• The NWCA staff has grown from 1.5 people in 1999 to nine employees who are dedicated to serving the wrestling community every day.
• Since the 1999 implementation of the wrestling weight management program, high school participation in wrestling has grown by nearly 28,000.  It fell by nearly 130,000 in the previous 23 years.
• There have been 57 new intercollegiate wrestling programs added since 1999.
• The working relationship with the NFHS, NAIA, and NCAA is better than ever.  
• The InterMat wrestling website provides unprecedented college and high school result information.  During the 2008 NCAA D-I Championships, over 100,000 unique visitors watched the real time results each day.
• The NWCA has allocated over $85,000 to nationally televise the National Duals and All Star Classic.
• The NWCA membership has grown from 1,700 to nearly 9,000.
• Over 240,000 middle school, high school, and college wrestlers are now safeguarded each year from the potentially tragic consequences of unhealthy weight loss.

In summary, we hope the above-mentioned facts provide a better understanding of the efforts of the NWCA as it relates to serving, protecting, and promoting scholastic and collegiate wrestling.  Please know that the NWCA wishes it could do more to protect intercollegiate teams and in time, we will be able to do so as our revenue continues to increase.  

Some services (i.e. events, marketing, etc) are better provided by USA Wrestling, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Media Sports Productions, AAU, and/or to private entrepreneurs who are providing vital services to our sport.   There has never been a more important time for both “non-profit” and “for profit” to work together.     

Mike Moyer,
Executive Director
National Wrestling Coaches Assocation
mmoyer@nwca.cc
717-653-8009