Dear College Administrator, Athletic Director or Legislator,
Are you smarter than Socrates? Wrestling was part of his educational regimen and he once said, “I swear it upon Zeus that an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler.” Socrates’ most influential disciple, Aristocles, was renamed Plato(n) by his wrestling coach Ariston of Argos.
Are you smarter than Ben Franklin, who published the following in 1749, “The good Education of Youth has been esteemed by wise Men in all Ages, as the surest Foundation of the Happiness both of private Families and of Common-wealths. Almost all Governments have therefore made it a principal Object of their Attention, to establish and endow with proper Revenues, such Seminaries of Learning, as might supply the succeeding Age with Men qualified to serve the Publick with Honour to themselves and to their Country.
“That to keep them in Health, and to strengthen and render active their Bodies, they be frequently exercis’d in Running, Leaping, Wrestling and Swimming…?”
Are you smarter than George Washington and Abraham Lincoln who were both champion wrestlers in the styles of their day?
Are you smarter than Theodore Roosevelt, who mandated that wrestling become part of the physical curriculum at the military academies?
Are you smarter than Nobel laureate, Dr. Norman Borlaug – the man who fed millions – and who credited wrestling with teaching him the discipline and tenacity he needed to continue his research?
Are you smarter than novelist, John Irving when he said, “I think the discipline of wrestling has given me the discipline to write.”?
Are you smarter than former Congressman and current head of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Jim Leach, an Iowa state high school wrestling champion and former member of the Princeton wrestling team? “I’ve always thought that the most equalitarian place in the world is the wrestling mat.”
Are you smarter than Dan Laurent, a three-time NCAA Division III heavyweight wrestling champion who recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with a 3.9 GPA in double majors of biochemistry and molecular and cellular biology?
Are you smarter than the administrators at Wayland Baptist University, Baker University or Minot State University – all of whom have added wrestling to increase enrollment and opportunity at their institutions?
For centuries the greatest minds and leaders considered wrestling a valuable part of higher education. Then, about thirty years ago, American legislators and administrators at many of America’s colleges and universities decided that they were smarter than Socrates – or Franklin – or Lincoln , and started dropping wrestling from the curriculum. Did they do that because wrestling is no longer relevant and modern kids don’t want to wrestle? That can’t be the reason. According to the National Federation of High Schools, wrestling is the sixth most popular boys’ sport in terms of participation – and it continues to grow. Since the 2002/2003 school year the number of youngsters on high school wrestling teams has increased by 30,000.
Did they do it to equalize educational opportunities among all segments of society? Ostensibly – yes. Title IX was enacted in 1972 and says quite simply, “No person in the United States, on the basis of sex, shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” You certainly can’t argue with that. But then the courts and the lawmakers got involved and college administrators found it easier to eliminate opportunity than create it.
So what about opportunity? As Mr. Leach indicated, wrestling is the most democratic of all sports. In what other one have you watched an athlete walk up to face his opponent, remove his prosthetic legs and then win an NCAA Championship? Ten years ago I got to do that when Nick Ackerman of Simpson College took the Division III wrestling title. And what about opportunity for women? Girls’ participation in wrestling is exploding in the states that sanction girls only championships. Smart college administrators have noticed this trend and recently added women’s teams at Jamestown University in North Dakota and Waldorf College in Iowa.
If your school doesn’t have a wrestling team, what do you think George Washington, Dr. Norman Borlaug and John Irving would urge you to do?
Do you need help or more information? Contact the National Wrestling Coaches Association and they’ll get you started. You just might be as smart as Socrates.
Showing posts with label Dr. Norman Borlaug. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dr. Norman Borlaug. Show all posts
Monday, October 11, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Wanted - tough people
They took one of the “toughest” actions in world history. In July 1776, 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence. They were merchants, farmers, lawyers and doctors. One was a minister. Seventeen fought in the Revolutionary war and five were captured by the British. Eleven had their property destroyed and two gave their entire fortunes to fund the war. These were tough guys – and when they needed a military leader – they called upon a wrestler.
At age 18 George Washington won a county-wide championship in the “collar-and-elbow” style of wrestling that was popular at the time. At another time, Washington witnessed a wrestling-match. The champion of the day challenged him, in sport, to wrestle. Washington did not stop to take off his coat, but grasped the "strong man of Virginia.'' It was all over in a moment, for, said the wrestler, "In Washington's lionlike grasp I became powerless, and was hurled to the ground with a force that seemed to jar the very marrow in my bones.'' At age 47, while commander of the Continental Armies, Washington consecutively defeated seven challengers from the Massachusetts Volunteers.
Throughout history – from Milo of Croton, to Abraham Lincoln, to Dr. Norman Borlaug – when toughness was needed – a wrestler stepped up. Knowing that, it is hard to understand why American intercollegiate wrestling continues to be assaulted by outside forces. It is short-sighted thinking.
We need “tough” scientists who can solve the alarming number of environmental challenges facing the world. We need “tough” business people who can lead us to economic recovery. We need “tough” educators to stop the American slide into mediocrity. Yet – when I peruse college catalogs, I never see “Toughness 101” listed. It’s our college wrestling coaches who teach that course.
Since the time of Socrates, athletic competition – especially wrestling – has been considered an integral part of educating the whole person. There are things learned on the mat that just simply can’t be taught elsewhere. Thousands of today’s college wrestlers are going to go on to teach our kids, start new businesses, heal our sick and lead our communities. Don’t we want them to be fully prepared?
Our Founding Fathers were far from perfect. When Jefferson wrote, “all men are created equal” he actually meant “all white, male property owners are created equal”. It would take a wrestler to free African-Americans from the horrors of slavery 87 years later.
Hundreds of years of second-class status for women is another dark part of American history. Unfortunately, American wrestling still treats girls and women as an afterthought. The first World Championships in women’s freestyle wrestling were held in 1987. It became an Olympic sport in 2004 and 85 countries have Olympic qualifying competitions.
A year ago America’s only three women’s freestyle Olympic medallists, Patricia Miranda, Sara McMann and Randi Miller filed a grievance with USA Wrestling and The US Olympic Committee alleging that USAW violated the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act by not providing “equitable support and encouragement for participation by women”.
On January 29th of this year USA Wrestling and the three complainants issued a joint statement that the grievance had been successfully resolved. This seems to indicate that progress is being made at the upper levels of the sport. But what about elsewhere – with our kids programs, interscholastic and collegiate athletes? Are we providing enough opportunities? Are we encouraging young girls to try the sport?
In 46 states we still place a major roadblock in front of high school girls who want to wrestle – we make them wrestle almost exclusively against boys. How many other sports do this? When I discuss this dilemma with girl’s sports advocates or wrestling leaders, I get a Catch 22 argument – we need grass roots interest to expand girl’s high school wrestling, but we need more girl’s high school wrestling opportunities to grow grass roots interest. So – what’s the answer? Like so many things in this sport, someone has to step up and take a leadership role – at the local level, at the state level and nationally. Where are those people?
Slowly, intercollegiate wrestling opportunities for women are expanding. Another encouraging sign is that more women are becoming college head coaches. I frequently read online comments that suggest we should continue to expand women’s college wrestling as a tool to fight Title IX attrition. That argument misses the mark.
If we truly value what wrestling teaches – why deny those lessons to half of the population? If your daughter grows up to be an attorney why shouldn’t she be equipped with a toughness learned on the mat? If your sister becomes the CEO of a troubled corporation shouldn’t she know the resiliency taught by wrestling? When the woman researcher is trying to find the cure for your cancer wouldn’t you want her to have the perseverance Dr. Borlaug attributed to his wrestling experience?
We will always need “Toughness 101” in our colleges – but let’s be sure its available for everyone.
At age 18 George Washington won a county-wide championship in the “collar-and-elbow” style of wrestling that was popular at the time. At another time, Washington witnessed a wrestling-match. The champion of the day challenged him, in sport, to wrestle. Washington did not stop to take off his coat, but grasped the "strong man of Virginia.'' It was all over in a moment, for, said the wrestler, "In Washington's lionlike grasp I became powerless, and was hurled to the ground with a force that seemed to jar the very marrow in my bones.'' At age 47, while commander of the Continental Armies, Washington consecutively defeated seven challengers from the Massachusetts Volunteers.
Throughout history – from Milo of Croton, to Abraham Lincoln, to Dr. Norman Borlaug – when toughness was needed – a wrestler stepped up. Knowing that, it is hard to understand why American intercollegiate wrestling continues to be assaulted by outside forces. It is short-sighted thinking.
We need “tough” scientists who can solve the alarming number of environmental challenges facing the world. We need “tough” business people who can lead us to economic recovery. We need “tough” educators to stop the American slide into mediocrity. Yet – when I peruse college catalogs, I never see “Toughness 101” listed. It’s our college wrestling coaches who teach that course.
Since the time of Socrates, athletic competition – especially wrestling – has been considered an integral part of educating the whole person. There are things learned on the mat that just simply can’t be taught elsewhere. Thousands of today’s college wrestlers are going to go on to teach our kids, start new businesses, heal our sick and lead our communities. Don’t we want them to be fully prepared?
Our Founding Fathers were far from perfect. When Jefferson wrote, “all men are created equal” he actually meant “all white, male property owners are created equal”. It would take a wrestler to free African-Americans from the horrors of slavery 87 years later.
Hundreds of years of second-class status for women is another dark part of American history. Unfortunately, American wrestling still treats girls and women as an afterthought. The first World Championships in women’s freestyle wrestling were held in 1987. It became an Olympic sport in 2004 and 85 countries have Olympic qualifying competitions.
A year ago America’s only three women’s freestyle Olympic medallists, Patricia Miranda, Sara McMann and Randi Miller filed a grievance with USA Wrestling and The US Olympic Committee alleging that USAW violated the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act by not providing “equitable support and encouragement for participation by women”.
On January 29th of this year USA Wrestling and the three complainants issued a joint statement that the grievance had been successfully resolved. This seems to indicate that progress is being made at the upper levels of the sport. But what about elsewhere – with our kids programs, interscholastic and collegiate athletes? Are we providing enough opportunities? Are we encouraging young girls to try the sport?
In 46 states we still place a major roadblock in front of high school girls who want to wrestle – we make them wrestle almost exclusively against boys. How many other sports do this? When I discuss this dilemma with girl’s sports advocates or wrestling leaders, I get a Catch 22 argument – we need grass roots interest to expand girl’s high school wrestling, but we need more girl’s high school wrestling opportunities to grow grass roots interest. So – what’s the answer? Like so many things in this sport, someone has to step up and take a leadership role – at the local level, at the state level and nationally. Where are those people?
Slowly, intercollegiate wrestling opportunities for women are expanding. Another encouraging sign is that more women are becoming college head coaches. I frequently read online comments that suggest we should continue to expand women’s college wrestling as a tool to fight Title IX attrition. That argument misses the mark.
If we truly value what wrestling teaches – why deny those lessons to half of the population? If your daughter grows up to be an attorney why shouldn’t she be equipped with a toughness learned on the mat? If your sister becomes the CEO of a troubled corporation shouldn’t she know the resiliency taught by wrestling? When the woman researcher is trying to find the cure for your cancer wouldn’t you want her to have the perseverance Dr. Borlaug attributed to his wrestling experience?
We will always need “Toughness 101” in our colleges – but let’s be sure its available for everyone.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Finding the next Gable - or Smith - or Borlaug
It’s time to come clean. I’ve lied in this blog for two and a half years. I’ve always claimed that I never wrestled and that isn’t entirely true. I did win an 8th grade intramural championship at Frank L. Smart Junior High School. In 1963 every boy in Davenport, IA (it was a sexist world) was introduced to wrestling in some way. There were instructional units in our PE classes where we were taught the basics of the single leg takedown, the sitout and the half nelson. At the end of the unit the teacher would organize an intramural tournament and we were encouraged to enter.
At about the same time that I reached the apex of my wrestling glory, 130 miles to the northwest, in Waterloo, a kid named Gable was launching his career. It’s a story of 2 choices. I opted for being a really bad basketball player and he chose to become one of America’s greatest wrestlers. A few years later, in Del City, OK, some brothers named Smith were exposed to wrestling and chose to pursue their dreams – with John going on to win two Olympic Gold medals and four World Championships.
Long before I, or Dan Gable or the Smiths were born a kid named Norman Borlaug stepped on the mat in Cresco, IA. After his wrestling career at the University of Minnesota, he, too, made a choice – to go an to graduate school and earn a masters degree and PHD in plant pathology. His lifetime of food production research saved millions of people around the world from starvation and in 1970 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Dr. Borlaug said of his wrestling background, “Wrestling taught me some valuable lessons. I always figured I could hold my own against the best in the world. It made me tough (my emphasis). Many times I drew on that strength.”
So – what’s the one common thread running threw Dr. Borlaug, Dan Gable, John Smith and me? We were all exposed to wrestling at an early age. We may have all taken divergent paths – but we all had the opportunity to learn the values of wrestling. I’m not sure that enough of today’s youth gets that opportunity.
What’s the answer? I don’t know – but here’s what I’m trying. I must begin by saying that I love NCAA Division III wrestling. Those guys really “get after it”. I’ve attended a few NCAA Division III Championships and the Saturday morning session might be my favorite part of that event. Everyone wrestling then is already an All-American and is battling to determine his spot on the podium. I’ll see more throws, reversals to pins – in general more excitement – in that one session than I might see in a whole season of Hawkeye dual meets. I know that the skill levels are different – but boy do I love watching DIII wrestlers.
What if kids who are new to wrestling got to see all of that fun and action? Would a few of them step on the mat for the first time? Would some of them get motivated enough to stick with the sport when it gets tough? I don’t know – but I’m hoping to find out. I’m raising enough money ($10,000) to buy 1,000 tickets to the Saturday, March 6, 2010 morning session of the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, IA and giving them away to kids.
The tickets will go to a variety of kids. Many will be reserved for students at flood impacted elementary and middle schools in Cedar Rapids. Local youth organizations like Boys and Girls Clubs will also get some. Most will probably go to youth wrestling clubs. There is no geographical preference for the wrestling clubs – if you want to bring a group to Cedar Rapids, just let me know.
So far, support has been encouraging. Corporate pledges have reached over $4,000, including an extremely generous gift of $2,000 from the Cedar Rapids Marriott. When wrestling writer KJ Pilcher published an article about the project in the Cedar Rapids Gazette just before Christmas, I got another $600 in pledges in three days. Cornell College has allowed me to raise money on-site at wrestling events. To date a total of about $5,600 has come in.
Some folks have suggested that I should be happy with what has already been accomplished. That’s like suggesting that Gable should have been satisfied with two NCAA titles after the loss to Owings or telling John Smith that a couple of international championships are enough for any man. I won’t stop until we get 1,000 kids in that arena – and I may not stop then.
So, dear readers, I am asking you to help. Several of you already have and to those I offer my heartfelt thanks. But – there’s still work to be done. Will you who haven’t yet contributed join this elite group of fans?
If you want to make a pledge today email me at jim@dmsolutions4u.com. I’ll collect on your pledge in a couple of weeks when tickets actually go on sale. If you want to just write a check now, please make it to, “Tickets for Kids” and send it to:
“Tickets for Kids”
c/o Jim Brown
130 24th St NE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402-4936.
Your donation may just be the one that puts the next Gable or Smith or Borlaug on the mat.
Thank you,
Jim
PS If you have a group of kids that would like tickets, please email me.
At about the same time that I reached the apex of my wrestling glory, 130 miles to the northwest, in Waterloo, a kid named Gable was launching his career. It’s a story of 2 choices. I opted for being a really bad basketball player and he chose to become one of America’s greatest wrestlers. A few years later, in Del City, OK, some brothers named Smith were exposed to wrestling and chose to pursue their dreams – with John going on to win two Olympic Gold medals and four World Championships.
Long before I, or Dan Gable or the Smiths were born a kid named Norman Borlaug stepped on the mat in Cresco, IA. After his wrestling career at the University of Minnesota, he, too, made a choice – to go an to graduate school and earn a masters degree and PHD in plant pathology. His lifetime of food production research saved millions of people around the world from starvation and in 1970 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Dr. Borlaug said of his wrestling background, “Wrestling taught me some valuable lessons. I always figured I could hold my own against the best in the world. It made me tough (my emphasis). Many times I drew on that strength.”
So – what’s the one common thread running threw Dr. Borlaug, Dan Gable, John Smith and me? We were all exposed to wrestling at an early age. We may have all taken divergent paths – but we all had the opportunity to learn the values of wrestling. I’m not sure that enough of today’s youth gets that opportunity.
What’s the answer? I don’t know – but here’s what I’m trying. I must begin by saying that I love NCAA Division III wrestling. Those guys really “get after it”. I’ve attended a few NCAA Division III Championships and the Saturday morning session might be my favorite part of that event. Everyone wrestling then is already an All-American and is battling to determine his spot on the podium. I’ll see more throws, reversals to pins – in general more excitement – in that one session than I might see in a whole season of Hawkeye dual meets. I know that the skill levels are different – but boy do I love watching DIII wrestlers.
What if kids who are new to wrestling got to see all of that fun and action? Would a few of them step on the mat for the first time? Would some of them get motivated enough to stick with the sport when it gets tough? I don’t know – but I’m hoping to find out. I’m raising enough money ($10,000) to buy 1,000 tickets to the Saturday, March 6, 2010 morning session of the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, IA and giving them away to kids.
The tickets will go to a variety of kids. Many will be reserved for students at flood impacted elementary and middle schools in Cedar Rapids. Local youth organizations like Boys and Girls Clubs will also get some. Most will probably go to youth wrestling clubs. There is no geographical preference for the wrestling clubs – if you want to bring a group to Cedar Rapids, just let me know.
So far, support has been encouraging. Corporate pledges have reached over $4,000, including an extremely generous gift of $2,000 from the Cedar Rapids Marriott. When wrestling writer KJ Pilcher published an article about the project in the Cedar Rapids Gazette just before Christmas, I got another $600 in pledges in three days. Cornell College has allowed me to raise money on-site at wrestling events. To date a total of about $5,600 has come in.
Some folks have suggested that I should be happy with what has already been accomplished. That’s like suggesting that Gable should have been satisfied with two NCAA titles after the loss to Owings or telling John Smith that a couple of international championships are enough for any man. I won’t stop until we get 1,000 kids in that arena – and I may not stop then.
So, dear readers, I am asking you to help. Several of you already have and to those I offer my heartfelt thanks. But – there’s still work to be done. Will you who haven’t yet contributed join this elite group of fans?
If you want to make a pledge today email me at jim@dmsolutions4u.com. I’ll collect on your pledge in a couple of weeks when tickets actually go on sale. If you want to just write a check now, please make it to, “Tickets for Kids” and send it to:
“Tickets for Kids”
c/o Jim Brown
130 24th St NE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402-4936.
Your donation may just be the one that puts the next Gable or Smith or Borlaug on the mat.
Thank you,
Jim
PS If you have a group of kids that would like tickets, please email me.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Greatness on the curriculum
Nobel Peace Laureate Norman Borlaug died Saturday at age 95 from complications of cancer. Mark Palmer wrote about Dr. Borlaug’s wrestling background yesterday on examiner.com. He was inducted into the Outstanding Americans wing of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 1992.
The father of the “Green Revolution”, Dr. Borlaug is credited with saving hundreds of millions of people from starvation. He is one of only five people to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. (The other four are Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Elie Wiesel.) In 1999 he was named one of the “100 great minds of the Twentieth Century”.
In 1986 Dr. Borlaug founded the World Food Prize to “honor those who have made significant and measurable contributions to improving the world's food supply.”
Just ten days ago the Borlaug Learning Center opened in Nashua, Iowa to further research in crop and livestock production and agricultural engineering.
As Mark Palmer cites in his memorial, Dr. Borlaug credited wrestling with contributing to his success. "Wrestling taught me some valuable lessons," Borlaug told the University of Minnesota in 2005. "I always figured I could hold my own against the best in the world. It made me tough. Many times, I drew on that strength. It's an inappropriate crutch perhaps, but that's the way I'm made."
Jim Leach represented me in the Congress for thirty years. Last month he was confirmed as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. An Iowa state high school wrestling champion at Davenport High School in 1960 and a letterman on the Princeton wrestling team, Jim Leach is also enshrined in the Outstanding Americans wing of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum and in the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame. In his great book Wrestling Tough, author Mike Chapman cites observations about wrestling made by Leach.
“Wrestling is a pursuit that shares with all sports all elements of competition. What differentiates it is its history, its individual discipline and its ‘equalitarian’ efforts. It does not matter how big or small, rich or poor, black, brown or white a wrestler is or what state he comes from”
“Wrestling imbues one with instincts for fairness and a necessity of preparation that is hard work.”
“Matches pit individuals of similar size, although dissimilar proportions, strengths, skills, stamina and knowledge … knowledge not in the sense of smartness, but athletic wisdom which only experience provides. The talented, unschooled athlete can’t prevail over the dedicated partner.”
Intercollegiate wrestling is under attack. Title IX mandates have created an atmosphere of fear among many college administrators. Eliminating educational opportunities for one gender is far easier than creating opportunities for another so they follow the path of least resistance. The current economic challenges have schools all over the country investigating budget cuts. Administrators are looking for programs they deem expendable. For many – wrestling seems to fill that bill.
It’s obvious that Chairman Leach does not consider wrestling an “expendable” part of his life. Dr. Borlaug considered the lessons he learned on the mat as valuable as those he learned in the classroom. Perhaps we should stop thinking of wrestling as a sport and start thinking of it as part of the curriculum. We could call it “Greatness 101”.
For more on the amazing life of Dr. Norman Borlaug go to yesterday's LA Times Obituary or the World Food Prize website.
The father of the “Green Revolution”, Dr. Borlaug is credited with saving hundreds of millions of people from starvation. He is one of only five people to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. (The other four are Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Elie Wiesel.) In 1999 he was named one of the “100 great minds of the Twentieth Century”.
In 1986 Dr. Borlaug founded the World Food Prize to “honor those who have made significant and measurable contributions to improving the world's food supply.”
Just ten days ago the Borlaug Learning Center opened in Nashua, Iowa to further research in crop and livestock production and agricultural engineering.
As Mark Palmer cites in his memorial, Dr. Borlaug credited wrestling with contributing to his success. "Wrestling taught me some valuable lessons," Borlaug told the University of Minnesota in 2005. "I always figured I could hold my own against the best in the world. It made me tough. Many times, I drew on that strength. It's an inappropriate crutch perhaps, but that's the way I'm made."
Jim Leach represented me in the Congress for thirty years. Last month he was confirmed as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. An Iowa state high school wrestling champion at Davenport High School in 1960 and a letterman on the Princeton wrestling team, Jim Leach is also enshrined in the Outstanding Americans wing of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum and in the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame. In his great book Wrestling Tough, author Mike Chapman cites observations about wrestling made by Leach.
“Wrestling is a pursuit that shares with all sports all elements of competition. What differentiates it is its history, its individual discipline and its ‘equalitarian’ efforts. It does not matter how big or small, rich or poor, black, brown or white a wrestler is or what state he comes from”
“Wrestling imbues one with instincts for fairness and a necessity of preparation that is hard work.”
“Matches pit individuals of similar size, although dissimilar proportions, strengths, skills, stamina and knowledge … knowledge not in the sense of smartness, but athletic wisdom which only experience provides. The talented, unschooled athlete can’t prevail over the dedicated partner.”
Intercollegiate wrestling is under attack. Title IX mandates have created an atmosphere of fear among many college administrators. Eliminating educational opportunities for one gender is far easier than creating opportunities for another so they follow the path of least resistance. The current economic challenges have schools all over the country investigating budget cuts. Administrators are looking for programs they deem expendable. For many – wrestling seems to fill that bill.
It’s obvious that Chairman Leach does not consider wrestling an “expendable” part of his life. Dr. Borlaug considered the lessons he learned on the mat as valuable as those he learned in the classroom. Perhaps we should stop thinking of wrestling as a sport and start thinking of it as part of the curriculum. We could call it “Greatness 101”.
For more on the amazing life of Dr. Norman Borlaug go to yesterday's LA Times Obituary or the World Food Prize website.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Dear Mary Alumnus
This week brought one more online request for money for a wrestling program. Norwich University announced the reinstatement of wrestling as a varsity sport, but it was added that they still need to raise $20,000 to meet this year’s financial obligation.
Last week I gave some basic tips on fund raising. This week I’ve written a sample letter from a fictional former wrestler at Smallville College to a hypothetical alumnus who has a history of giving to Smallville, but who has never donated to athletics. In this imaginary scenario the athletic director has just mandated that the team itself raise $100,000 a year or face future removal from the roster of varsity sports.
“Dear Mary Alumnus,
I’m a fellow Smallville College alum (Class of ’96). I loved my time there – the campus, the friends I made and the education I got will always be a part of me. Is Smallville as important to you as it is to me? It’s a great school, isn’t it?
Do you know what part of my Smallville experience I treasure the most? I wrestled. I spent four years on the varsity team and in my senior year I won a conference championship. I have never been prouder of any other accomplishment.
There are those who want to take that same opportunity away from future Smallville students. The athletic department has mandated that the wrestling team become more self-supporting or face elimination. The team must raise $100,000 a year or it will be dropped.
Mary, did the alarm just go off in your head? Did you just think, “Uh-oh, he’s about to ask me for money – for WRESTLING”? Mary, you’re one of our most generous alumni. You’re one of the elite few who help make a Smallville education a priceless investment in a young person’s future. But WRESTLING?!?! Why WRESTLING?
Wrestling taught me things that I never would have learned in any classroom – anywhere. Wrestling taught me to get off my back – literally and figuratively. I have faced adversity in my life since Smallville and the lessons I learned on the mat helped me fight on and overcome. The discipline I learned as a wrestler made me a better student. Today I own a small business and things I learned in the wrestling room contribute more to my success than anything I learned in Jones Hall.
Wrestling is the most democratic of sports. You don’t have to win some type of genetic lottery to be a champion. The competitor that works the hardest and learns the most almost always triumphs. A bi-lateral amputee- Nick Ackerman – won an NCAA Division III national championship. Wrestling embodies The American Dream – and there are those who want to take it away. Are you going to let them get away with it or will you join my fight?
I’m not the only one who believes in the value of wrestling. Nobel laureate, Dr. Norman Borlaug – the man who fed billions – credits wrestling with teaching him the discipline and tenacity he needed to continue his research. Thirteen American presidents have wrestled – from Washington to Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt. Congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle – Dennis Hastert, Jim Leach, Paul Wellstone - and others - wrestled. Wrestling has been a part of the educations of countless teachers, scientists, humanitarians, business leaders, military heroes – even Plato wrestled.
Won’t you join me in this fight? Won’t you help me perpetuate and strengthen this invaluable educational tool?
Your gift of $1,000 would cover travel expenses to our 2010 conference meet. A $200 check will buy meals for one wrestler for all of our road events this season. A $5,000 donation pays our insurance premium for the year. Please write your check today and return it in the enclosed reply envelope. You can use your credit card if you like.
Or - there’s an easier way for you to help - join the Smallville Mat Clan. It’s simple, go to www.smallvillecollegewrestling.edu and click on Join the Mat Clan. For a minimum pledge of $25 a month for the next 12 months I’ll send you a Smallville wrestling tee shirt and our quarterly newsletter. Why not join today?
Future generations of Smallville students thank you.
Sincerely,
John Doe
Smallville College, 1996
BA Finance
President
Metrowebtech, Inc.
PS FYI – The football and basketball teams are not being asked to make the same sacrifices.”
Last week I gave some basic tips on fund raising. This week I’ve written a sample letter from a fictional former wrestler at Smallville College to a hypothetical alumnus who has a history of giving to Smallville, but who has never donated to athletics. In this imaginary scenario the athletic director has just mandated that the team itself raise $100,000 a year or face future removal from the roster of varsity sports.
“Dear Mary Alumnus,
I’m a fellow Smallville College alum (Class of ’96). I loved my time there – the campus, the friends I made and the education I got will always be a part of me. Is Smallville as important to you as it is to me? It’s a great school, isn’t it?
Do you know what part of my Smallville experience I treasure the most? I wrestled. I spent four years on the varsity team and in my senior year I won a conference championship. I have never been prouder of any other accomplishment.
There are those who want to take that same opportunity away from future Smallville students. The athletic department has mandated that the wrestling team become more self-supporting or face elimination. The team must raise $100,000 a year or it will be dropped.
Mary, did the alarm just go off in your head? Did you just think, “Uh-oh, he’s about to ask me for money – for WRESTLING”? Mary, you’re one of our most generous alumni. You’re one of the elite few who help make a Smallville education a priceless investment in a young person’s future. But WRESTLING?!?! Why WRESTLING?
Wrestling taught me things that I never would have learned in any classroom – anywhere. Wrestling taught me to get off my back – literally and figuratively. I have faced adversity in my life since Smallville and the lessons I learned on the mat helped me fight on and overcome. The discipline I learned as a wrestler made me a better student. Today I own a small business and things I learned in the wrestling room contribute more to my success than anything I learned in Jones Hall.
Wrestling is the most democratic of sports. You don’t have to win some type of genetic lottery to be a champion. The competitor that works the hardest and learns the most almost always triumphs. A bi-lateral amputee- Nick Ackerman – won an NCAA Division III national championship. Wrestling embodies The American Dream – and there are those who want to take it away. Are you going to let them get away with it or will you join my fight?
I’m not the only one who believes in the value of wrestling. Nobel laureate, Dr. Norman Borlaug – the man who fed billions – credits wrestling with teaching him the discipline and tenacity he needed to continue his research. Thirteen American presidents have wrestled – from Washington to Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt. Congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle – Dennis Hastert, Jim Leach, Paul Wellstone - and others - wrestled. Wrestling has been a part of the educations of countless teachers, scientists, humanitarians, business leaders, military heroes – even Plato wrestled.
Won’t you join me in this fight? Won’t you help me perpetuate and strengthen this invaluable educational tool?
Your gift of $1,000 would cover travel expenses to our 2010 conference meet. A $200 check will buy meals for one wrestler for all of our road events this season. A $5,000 donation pays our insurance premium for the year. Please write your check today and return it in the enclosed reply envelope. You can use your credit card if you like.
Or - there’s an easier way for you to help - join the Smallville Mat Clan. It’s simple, go to www.smallvillecollegewrestling.edu and click on Join the Mat Clan. For a minimum pledge of $25 a month for the next 12 months I’ll send you a Smallville wrestling tee shirt and our quarterly newsletter. Why not join today?
Future generations of Smallville students thank you.
Sincerely,
John Doe
Smallville College, 1996
BA Finance
President
Metrowebtech, Inc.
PS FYI – The football and basketball teams are not being asked to make the same sacrifices.”
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Santa didn't listen
I guess I didn’t get my letter off to Santa in time. Just a day after I included “more college wrestling programs” on my wish list came the news that Norwich University in Northfield, VT will drop its wrestling program at the end of the academic year.
Here is a copy of the press release from Mike Moyer at the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
Without question these are difficult economic times. Companies, government agencies, colleges and universities – and you and I – are all looking for ways to cut expenses. Institutions of higher learning throughout the land are watching their endowment funds shrink with every point the Dow Jones Average falls. In the minds of many college administrators, athletics should be the first budget cut – with “Olympic sports” the first to go. As in the case of Norwich University – wrestling will top many “cut lists”. It seems an easy choice, “computer science or wrestling?” It seems easy – but is it?
Wrestling has been a part of education since Socrates. Plato wrestled. As Mike points out in his press release, thirteen presidents and seventeen astronauts wrestled. Nobel laureate, Dr. Norman Borlaug, has credited his high school wrestling coach in Cresco, IA with teaching him the discipline he needed to carry out his research. It is not a stretch to say that millions of people around the world have been saved from starvation, in part, because of the lessons taught Dr. Borlaug by wrestling. Isn’t education supposed to be about teaching the “whole student”?
Norwich University was founded in 1819 by Alden Partridge and is the country’s oldest private military school. It says on the Norwich website, “Norwich has a mission, a job to do, and it takes it very seriously. We are here to serve this great nation and educate students who will become leaders in business, government, and the military in order to advance the causes of the Republic, ensure its continued freedom, and develop the economic, political, and social infrastructure of this new century.”
We are at war and facing an economic crisis. Don’t we need young leaders who have learned how to “get off their backs” and triumph?
I urge you to join Mike in his letter writing campaign. Please express your concerns to
Dr. Richard M Schneider
President
Norwich University
158 Harmon Drive
Northfield, VT 05663
and
Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, Chairman
Norwich University Board of Trustees
c/o David Whaley, Secretary
158 Harmon Drive
Northfield, VT 05663
I also reiterate Mike’s request that you be respectful when you write. We’re in for a long battle, but we’re up to the challenge.
Here is a copy of the press release from Mike Moyer at the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
Without question these are difficult economic times. Companies, government agencies, colleges and universities – and you and I – are all looking for ways to cut expenses. Institutions of higher learning throughout the land are watching their endowment funds shrink with every point the Dow Jones Average falls. In the minds of many college administrators, athletics should be the first budget cut – with “Olympic sports” the first to go. As in the case of Norwich University – wrestling will top many “cut lists”. It seems an easy choice, “computer science or wrestling?” It seems easy – but is it?
Wrestling has been a part of education since Socrates. Plato wrestled. As Mike points out in his press release, thirteen presidents and seventeen astronauts wrestled. Nobel laureate, Dr. Norman Borlaug, has credited his high school wrestling coach in Cresco, IA with teaching him the discipline he needed to carry out his research. It is not a stretch to say that millions of people around the world have been saved from starvation, in part, because of the lessons taught Dr. Borlaug by wrestling. Isn’t education supposed to be about teaching the “whole student”?
Norwich University was founded in 1819 by Alden Partridge and is the country’s oldest private military school. It says on the Norwich website, “Norwich has a mission, a job to do, and it takes it very seriously. We are here to serve this great nation and educate students who will become leaders in business, government, and the military in order to advance the causes of the Republic, ensure its continued freedom, and develop the economic, political, and social infrastructure of this new century.”
We are at war and facing an economic crisis. Don’t we need young leaders who have learned how to “get off their backs” and triumph?
I urge you to join Mike in his letter writing campaign. Please express your concerns to
Dr. Richard M Schneider
President
Norwich University
158 Harmon Drive
Northfield, VT 05663
and
Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, Chairman
Norwich University Board of Trustees
c/o David Whaley, Secretary
158 Harmon Drive
Northfield, VT 05663
I also reiterate Mike’s request that you be respectful when you write. We’re in for a long battle, but we’re up to the challenge.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Where does it all end?
Where does it all end?
Wrestling has been a part of education for 2,500 years. Socrates said, “I swear it upon Zeus, an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler.” Last Tuesday, May 13, 2008, Arizona State University eliminated wrestling (along with men’s swimming and men’s tennis) from its’ athletic opportunities. Here is a link to the university’s press release from Lisa Love, Vice President for Athletics.
http://www.intermatwrestle.com/news/newsdisplay.aspx?ID=7262
Heritage doesn’t matter.
The Sun Devils are one of only eleven teams to ever win the NCAA Division I team championship – and the ONLY team west of Oklahoma to do so. They have produced numerous All-Americans, several NCAA individual champions a World Freestyle champion and a couple of Olympic Silver medallists. Former NFL defensive star, Curley Culp, won an NCAA heavyweight championship for ASU in 1967.
Apparently a rich tradition is not enough to save a sport.
Here’s 7X US Freestyle champion, 1992 Olympic Silver Medalist and Arizona State graduate, Zeke Jones, winning his 1991 World Freestyle Gold Medal.
Reaction
As you would expect, the wrestling community is shocked and outraged. In an interview appearing in Wednesday’s (5/14/08) Des Moines Register, Bobby Douglas, the man who coached the 1988 Sun Devils to their NCAA team title was quoted as saying, “More than anything, if Arizona State goes, the West goes. In an interview in Thursday’s Iowa City Press-Citizen, Douglas also said, “I’m really frightened for wrestling. We don’t have that many friends. Wrestling is not a favorite sport of many athletic directors …” In the same Press-Citizen article legendary, former University of Iowa coach, Dan Gable, said, “To me there is no program that’s totally safe…”
Longtime Arizona State wrestling booster and benefactor, Art Martori (founder of Sunkist Kids wrestling) was quoted in Wednesday’s Arizona Republic, "When they commissioned that building (the Riches Wrestling Complex), I shook Lisa Love's hand and said in my speech that hopefully ASU would never use Title IX as an excuse to get rid of wrestling," Martori said. "All these schools have a book on how to drop sports and which ones to drop so they don't push back. Talking about an endowment now is absolute (expletive) after you've let all the horses out of the barn instead of coming to us before. We asked her to please come to us if she ever wanted to cut it. I know three people who would have put up a minimum of $50,000 per year."
Of course, the internet is abuzz on both sides of the issue. The relative importance of college athletics is a frequent topic of posts.
“Eliminate all sports from academia. College is for learning, not playing games.”
“Put the money they spend on sports into education and there would be more successful human beings.”
Really?
Some historians claim that Socrates’ most famous pupil, Aristocles, was renamed Plato because of his broad wrestling stance.
One of the most influential scientists of our time, Nobel laureate, Dr. Norman Borlaug, has frequently cited his high school wrestling coach as being the educator that influenced him most by teaching him tenacity and perseverance.
Novelist, John Irving (a former college wrestler) has said, “The discipline of wrestling has given me the discipline to write.”
Just what is opportunity?
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." It was landmark legislation that changed the landscape of American education. One of my daughters played college tennis and graduated from law school – two things that would have been far more difficult without Title IX.
Every time a wrestling program is dropped Title IX is roundly criticized by the sports’ advocates. The law is a good law – its’ interpretation has gone awry. Proportionality is one of the guidelines of Title IX compliance. The concept is that participation opportunity percentages for each gender should mirror the gender percentages of the general student population of a particular school. In other words, if 56% of the students at Whatsis University are women, then 56% of the athletes representing Whatsis should also be women. Without question, this has lead to far more opportunities for women to compete in intercollegiate athletics. Traditional sports like softball, swimming and volleyball all exploded in popularity. Colleges added teams in field hockey and soccer. Some colleges got creative and added things like competitive cheer and rowing (in a corn field). More recently, women’s lacrosse has started to spread west into the heartland and is providing even more young women an opportunity to experience intercollegiate athletics.
However, in these challenging budgetary times many college athletic directors have given up on trying to increase opportunities for women. Instead they take the easier road – the elimination of men’s teams. It’s not just wrestling – look at the roster of sports teams at many colleges and universities and you’ll find women’s tennis – but not men’s; women’s gymnastics – but not men’s; women’s swimming – but not men’s; softball – but not baseball. Title IXs’ most vocal proponents will point out – accurately – that even with the reduction of men’s teams the gender participation gap remains.
At first blush, the proportionality guideline seems straightforward. However, the question that is never allowed to be answered meaningfully is, “Are enough women interested in intercollegiate athletics to fill all of the roster spots needed?” Title IXs’ most powerful advocacy group, The Women’s Sports Foundation, vehemently opposes interest measurement in any way.
Let’s look at this in another way. In 2005 20% of all undergraduate and graduate engineering degrees were awarded to women. Is this because engineering schools are discriminating against women? On the contrary, they are investing heavily in trying to recruit female students. But it appears – after 30 years of universities and professional engineering societies trying to attract more women to the field – women are not interested in engineering at the same level men are. If colleges and universities were forced to apply proportionality to this discipline as they are with athletics then Title IX would be mandating the closure of most engineering programs.
At what point do you bring educational opportunities for Arizona high school students into the argument? Over 5,400 students participated in high school wrestling there last year. Those students now have no opportunity to have wrestling as a part of their education at a major university in their home state. In fact, these young people now only have Embry-Riddle and Grand Canyon University as home state options if they want to continue wrestling. The backlash from this is down the road. Youth and high school wrestling continue to grow in popularity. Who’s going to teach and coach these kids ten years from now if the most likely candidates are forced to go out of state to compete in the sport they love while earning a degree in education?
Wrestling is the most democratic of sports. You don’t have to be 6’7”, or weigh 300 pounds, or run a fast 40 to win a championship. The athlete that works the hardest, learns the most and perseveres almost always triumphs. In what other sport would you find an athlete with one leg come within one overtime match of standing on the medal stand at his sport’s major college championship? Anthony Robles, Arizona State’s freshman 125-pounder did just that. Anthony embodies everything that is great about wrestling and had always dreamed of being a Sun Devil. He must now look elsewhere.
And then there’s the money
Most institutions of higher learning – especially state schools – are under serious financial pressure. Declining tax support, increased enrollments and shifting demographics are straining budgets everywhere. Almost no wrestling programs generate enough revenue to support themselves. Only the University of Iowa has averaged over 7,000 fans in attendance the past two years. Schools like Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Minnesota will average in the 3,500 – 4,500 range. With only six or seven home meets a year at most schools, ticket sales contribute little to the finances of the wrestling programs. Many schools earn additional money operating wrestling camps. The success of these camps largely depends on the success and profile of the school’s coaching staff and the popularity of youth wrestling in surrounding areas. But when it’s all tallied, almost all wrestling teams are “in the red”.
So what do we do – quit?
Haven’t you been reading? That’s not what wrestlers do.
I’m just a fan, but I have some suggestions.
We need a leader.
Many people play leadership roles throughout the sport. However, most of them have their own particular constituencies and agendas. We need someone with a high profile who’s out there on the front lines and has the power and ability to pull disparate factions together for a unified cause. I nominate Dennis Hastert. He has taught, coached wrestling and has retired from congress. I don’t know who would be better. Congressman, will you do it?
Add more opportunities for women.
Athletic directors need to address the real mission of Title IX and work harder to offer more women’s sports. May I suggest women’s wrestling? A few schools have added women’s teams in the past two years and the National Wrestling Coaches Association has added a women’s division to its’ National Dual Tournament. This is going to be hard work. We have to start by giving girls more exposure to wrestling.
We also need another Division I NCAA school to add a women’s team. High school wrestling is exploding in Texas and it is one of the few states with separate boys and girls championships. If one of the Texas Big XII schools would add both men’s and women’s wrestling we would make great strides.
Win in the court of public opinion.
Here’s my dream scenario – Anthony Robles, bi-lateral amputee and 2001 NCAA Division III national champion, Nick Ackerman, and Olympic medallist Patricia Miranda are all on Oprah talking about the world’s oldest and greatest sport. More than the wrestling community must care about the future of the sport.
Make wrestling an urban sport.
According to Al Bevilacqua of Beat the Streets more than half of America’s middle school and high school students have no opportunity to wrestle interscholastically – primarily in our nations’ largest urban areas. Someone needs to take the lead in Detroit and Chicago the way that Al and his associates have done in New York. Urban wrestling participation will put greater pressure on colleges to offer opportunities commensurate with the needs of their constituencies. It will also grow the sport’s support base.
Endow – and how!
As the week has progressed the feeling has grown that, just maybe, ASU made this announcement to blackmail major donors into endowing the program. I don’t know if that’s true or not. However, one way to turn the fortunes of college wrestling around might be to permanently endow the sport at as many colleges and universities as possible. There’s no guarantee that will work. Alumni at Marquette University fully endowed their program and it was still dropped. But – I would suggest that it might go a long way to reversing the current trends.
Oh yeah - don’t wait until the elimination announcement has been made before you decide to save your favorite team! Do it now!
I have used a lot of resources to write this blog.
Jason Bryant’s blogs have been a major help.
http://intermat.wordpress.com/
As previously cited, I have used articles from The Des Moines Register, The Iowa City Press-Citizen and The Arizona Republic.
I also relied heavily on John Irving’s 2003 New York Times essay, “Wrestling With Title IX”.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C00E2DB1339F93BA15752C0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2
Folks, if you really love wrestling - athlete, coach or fan – we have to spend less time arguing about who’s to blame and a lot more time advancing the cause.
Wrestling has been a part of education for 2,500 years. Socrates said, “I swear it upon Zeus, an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler.” Last Tuesday, May 13, 2008, Arizona State University eliminated wrestling (along with men’s swimming and men’s tennis) from its’ athletic opportunities. Here is a link to the university’s press release from Lisa Love, Vice President for Athletics.
http://www.intermatwrestle.com/news/newsdisplay.aspx?ID=7262
Heritage doesn’t matter.
The Sun Devils are one of only eleven teams to ever win the NCAA Division I team championship – and the ONLY team west of Oklahoma to do so. They have produced numerous All-Americans, several NCAA individual champions a World Freestyle champion and a couple of Olympic Silver medallists. Former NFL defensive star, Curley Culp, won an NCAA heavyweight championship for ASU in 1967.
Apparently a rich tradition is not enough to save a sport.
Here’s 7X US Freestyle champion, 1992 Olympic Silver Medalist and Arizona State graduate, Zeke Jones, winning his 1991 World Freestyle Gold Medal.
Reaction
As you would expect, the wrestling community is shocked and outraged. In an interview appearing in Wednesday’s (5/14/08) Des Moines Register, Bobby Douglas, the man who coached the 1988 Sun Devils to their NCAA team title was quoted as saying, “More than anything, if Arizona State goes, the West goes. In an interview in Thursday’s Iowa City Press-Citizen, Douglas also said, “I’m really frightened for wrestling. We don’t have that many friends. Wrestling is not a favorite sport of many athletic directors …” In the same Press-Citizen article legendary, former University of Iowa coach, Dan Gable, said, “To me there is no program that’s totally safe…”
Longtime Arizona State wrestling booster and benefactor, Art Martori (founder of Sunkist Kids wrestling) was quoted in Wednesday’s Arizona Republic, "When they commissioned that building (the Riches Wrestling Complex), I shook Lisa Love's hand and said in my speech that hopefully ASU would never use Title IX as an excuse to get rid of wrestling," Martori said. "All these schools have a book on how to drop sports and which ones to drop so they don't push back. Talking about an endowment now is absolute (expletive) after you've let all the horses out of the barn instead of coming to us before. We asked her to please come to us if she ever wanted to cut it. I know three people who would have put up a minimum of $50,000 per year."
Of course, the internet is abuzz on both sides of the issue. The relative importance of college athletics is a frequent topic of posts.
“Eliminate all sports from academia. College is for learning, not playing games.”
“Put the money they spend on sports into education and there would be more successful human beings.”
Really?
Some historians claim that Socrates’ most famous pupil, Aristocles, was renamed Plato because of his broad wrestling stance.
One of the most influential scientists of our time, Nobel laureate, Dr. Norman Borlaug, has frequently cited his high school wrestling coach as being the educator that influenced him most by teaching him tenacity and perseverance.
Novelist, John Irving (a former college wrestler) has said, “The discipline of wrestling has given me the discipline to write.”
Just what is opportunity?
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." It was landmark legislation that changed the landscape of American education. One of my daughters played college tennis and graduated from law school – two things that would have been far more difficult without Title IX.
Every time a wrestling program is dropped Title IX is roundly criticized by the sports’ advocates. The law is a good law – its’ interpretation has gone awry. Proportionality is one of the guidelines of Title IX compliance. The concept is that participation opportunity percentages for each gender should mirror the gender percentages of the general student population of a particular school. In other words, if 56% of the students at Whatsis University are women, then 56% of the athletes representing Whatsis should also be women. Without question, this has lead to far more opportunities for women to compete in intercollegiate athletics. Traditional sports like softball, swimming and volleyball all exploded in popularity. Colleges added teams in field hockey and soccer. Some colleges got creative and added things like competitive cheer and rowing (in a corn field). More recently, women’s lacrosse has started to spread west into the heartland and is providing even more young women an opportunity to experience intercollegiate athletics.
However, in these challenging budgetary times many college athletic directors have given up on trying to increase opportunities for women. Instead they take the easier road – the elimination of men’s teams. It’s not just wrestling – look at the roster of sports teams at many colleges and universities and you’ll find women’s tennis – but not men’s; women’s gymnastics – but not men’s; women’s swimming – but not men’s; softball – but not baseball. Title IXs’ most vocal proponents will point out – accurately – that even with the reduction of men’s teams the gender participation gap remains.
At first blush, the proportionality guideline seems straightforward. However, the question that is never allowed to be answered meaningfully is, “Are enough women interested in intercollegiate athletics to fill all of the roster spots needed?” Title IXs’ most powerful advocacy group, The Women’s Sports Foundation, vehemently opposes interest measurement in any way.
Let’s look at this in another way. In 2005 20% of all undergraduate and graduate engineering degrees were awarded to women. Is this because engineering schools are discriminating against women? On the contrary, they are investing heavily in trying to recruit female students. But it appears – after 30 years of universities and professional engineering societies trying to attract more women to the field – women are not interested in engineering at the same level men are. If colleges and universities were forced to apply proportionality to this discipline as they are with athletics then Title IX would be mandating the closure of most engineering programs.
At what point do you bring educational opportunities for Arizona high school students into the argument? Over 5,400 students participated in high school wrestling there last year. Those students now have no opportunity to have wrestling as a part of their education at a major university in their home state. In fact, these young people now only have Embry-Riddle and Grand Canyon University as home state options if they want to continue wrestling. The backlash from this is down the road. Youth and high school wrestling continue to grow in popularity. Who’s going to teach and coach these kids ten years from now if the most likely candidates are forced to go out of state to compete in the sport they love while earning a degree in education?
Wrestling is the most democratic of sports. You don’t have to be 6’7”, or weigh 300 pounds, or run a fast 40 to win a championship. The athlete that works the hardest, learns the most and perseveres almost always triumphs. In what other sport would you find an athlete with one leg come within one overtime match of standing on the medal stand at his sport’s major college championship? Anthony Robles, Arizona State’s freshman 125-pounder did just that. Anthony embodies everything that is great about wrestling and had always dreamed of being a Sun Devil. He must now look elsewhere.
And then there’s the money
Most institutions of higher learning – especially state schools – are under serious financial pressure. Declining tax support, increased enrollments and shifting demographics are straining budgets everywhere. Almost no wrestling programs generate enough revenue to support themselves. Only the University of Iowa has averaged over 7,000 fans in attendance the past two years. Schools like Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Minnesota will average in the 3,500 – 4,500 range. With only six or seven home meets a year at most schools, ticket sales contribute little to the finances of the wrestling programs. Many schools earn additional money operating wrestling camps. The success of these camps largely depends on the success and profile of the school’s coaching staff and the popularity of youth wrestling in surrounding areas. But when it’s all tallied, almost all wrestling teams are “in the red”.
So what do we do – quit?
Haven’t you been reading? That’s not what wrestlers do.
I’m just a fan, but I have some suggestions.
We need a leader.
Many people play leadership roles throughout the sport. However, most of them have their own particular constituencies and agendas. We need someone with a high profile who’s out there on the front lines and has the power and ability to pull disparate factions together for a unified cause. I nominate Dennis Hastert. He has taught, coached wrestling and has retired from congress. I don’t know who would be better. Congressman, will you do it?
Add more opportunities for women.
Athletic directors need to address the real mission of Title IX and work harder to offer more women’s sports. May I suggest women’s wrestling? A few schools have added women’s teams in the past two years and the National Wrestling Coaches Association has added a women’s division to its’ National Dual Tournament. This is going to be hard work. We have to start by giving girls more exposure to wrestling.
We also need another Division I NCAA school to add a women’s team. High school wrestling is exploding in Texas and it is one of the few states with separate boys and girls championships. If one of the Texas Big XII schools would add both men’s and women’s wrestling we would make great strides.
Win in the court of public opinion.
Here’s my dream scenario – Anthony Robles, bi-lateral amputee and 2001 NCAA Division III national champion, Nick Ackerman, and Olympic medallist Patricia Miranda are all on Oprah talking about the world’s oldest and greatest sport. More than the wrestling community must care about the future of the sport.
Make wrestling an urban sport.
According to Al Bevilacqua of Beat the Streets more than half of America’s middle school and high school students have no opportunity to wrestle interscholastically – primarily in our nations’ largest urban areas. Someone needs to take the lead in Detroit and Chicago the way that Al and his associates have done in New York. Urban wrestling participation will put greater pressure on colleges to offer opportunities commensurate with the needs of their constituencies. It will also grow the sport’s support base.
Endow – and how!
As the week has progressed the feeling has grown that, just maybe, ASU made this announcement to blackmail major donors into endowing the program. I don’t know if that’s true or not. However, one way to turn the fortunes of college wrestling around might be to permanently endow the sport at as many colleges and universities as possible. There’s no guarantee that will work. Alumni at Marquette University fully endowed their program and it was still dropped. But – I would suggest that it might go a long way to reversing the current trends.
Oh yeah - don’t wait until the elimination announcement has been made before you decide to save your favorite team! Do it now!
I have used a lot of resources to write this blog.
Jason Bryant’s blogs have been a major help.
http://intermat.wordpress.com/
As previously cited, I have used articles from The Des Moines Register, The Iowa City Press-Citizen and The Arizona Republic.
I also relied heavily on John Irving’s 2003 New York Times essay, “Wrestling With Title IX”.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C00E2DB1339F93BA15752C0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2
Folks, if you really love wrestling - athlete, coach or fan – we have to spend less time arguing about who’s to blame and a lot more time advancing the cause.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
