pwrestler10 Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 I am doing a project for my masters about how important a wrestling room is. I understand that it is still possible to be successful without a wrestling room. Just wondering some thoughts of others on the level of importance and some reasons why. I will be setting up a link on my power-point so that anyone who views my project can see all of your thoughts. Thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrestlinggods Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 1. elimination of distractions- Kid's can lose focus very easy and if you have to roll out mat's inside an area where there can be distractions (reg students walking around, friend's or girlfriend's sitting and watching) you wrestler's can lose their focus very easily. 2. spend more time administrating rather than teaching- If you have to roll out mat's and possibly mop them before you practice you lose a ton of time that could be used going over the important part's of your technique teaching during your practice. 3. The feeling of ownership- If you have a wrestling room that you can call your own you can stay later, start earlier, or do whatever you want. Rather than being on a schedule where you have to work around other's. Hope this help's Coach Weimer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tskin Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 I cvan say from experience that when I was at Scottsburg my first part of my coaching career there we wrestled on a stage behind a curtain in the gym and it was a huge distraction. In 2003 we were able to gain control of part of the baseball complex that wasn't being used and had one 40x40 room just for our mat year round, a 20x40 room that had weights and then a couple smaller rooms we used as a locker room and a coaches office. You can go to our season records from when i started in 96 until my last year there in 2010 and see a remarkable change in numbers on team and success! The kids felt like they had a place and they were important and not some secondary activity shoved off to the side. The kids took more pride in themselves and really took ownership of the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2CJ41 Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 The exact opposite happened at Garrett. We had 3 state qualifiers when we had a wrestling room and have had 10 since moving to the upper deck of the gym. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tskin Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 The exact opposite happened at Garrett. We had 3 state qualifiers when we had a wrestling room and have had 10 since moving to the upper deck of the gym. Once again more proof that Garrett and its coaching staff are somehow trapped in Bizzarro World. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlHungus Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 We had a state champion using the cafeteria and a 5th place using a room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwrestler10 Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 Yes, I understand that programs can be successful without a room. Just trying to get the advantages for having one. Thanks again to all who post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2CJ41 Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Having a wrestling room is about as critical to a team or individual's success as having the most expensive pair of wrestling shoes. Sure they are nice to have and pretty to look at, but in the end it is the people that fill them that makes the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwrestler10 Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 I feel like a broken record. I know this is true. Rooms are more than just nice to have and good to look at though. I don't want posts like this because I know this is true. There are some advantages when it comes to facilities. If you don't have a room and there is no space for you to practice in the off season then you are at a disadvantage. I feel that it is unfair to the kids to see that other sports are having facilities upgraded and we do not even have a room. I tell my kids everyday that we do not need a room to be successful and we are making great strides. I am trying to get some thoughts and reasons on the benefits of a room, not just posts that state the obvious fact that it is not necessary to have a room to be successful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgcoach Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 1. elimination of distractions- Kid's can lose focus very easy and if you have to roll out mat's inside an area where there can be distractions (reg students walking around, friend's or girlfriend's sitting and watching) you wrestler's can lose their focus very easily. 2. spend more time administrating rather than teaching- If you have to roll out mat's and possibly mop them before you practice you lose a ton of time that could be used going over the important part's of your technique teaching during your practice. 3. The feeling of ownership- If you have a wrestling room that you can call your own you can stay later, start earlier, or do whatever you want. Rather than being on a schedule where you have to work around other's. Hope this help's Coach Weimer I agree with all of these. Here are a few more I'd add to Weimer's list. Safety-Our middle school does not have a room. Practices are held in the gym or in hallways on tumbling mats. Kids often end up on the hardwood or against a concrete block wall. Also, Coach Weimer mentioned the time involved with mopping, don't forget about the health risks involved if they are not properly and regularly mopped. Money-Most AD's do not want to drop money on purchasing new wrestling mats. Most wear and tear on a mat is the result of moving them or improper storage. I know we have nearly ruined two 42x42 Resilites simply because we have to store them under a stage on rollers. Not sure how I would categorize my last point, but the number of athletes come into play. If you have to move/roll mats daily, you need a certain amount of people to do this. Maybe our situation is unique because our mats are divided into halves and its middle school, but if we don't have a decent number of kids show up for practice, it becomes very difficult to roll them out. Individual workouts or voluntary practices are pretty much impossible. Good luck with your project. I hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bash513 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I feel like a broken record. I know this is true. Rooms are more than just nice to have and good to look at though. I don't want posts like this because I know this is true. There are some advantages when it comes to facilities. If you don't have a room and there is no space for you to practice in the off season then you are at a disadvantage. I feel that it is unfair to the kids to see that other sports are having facilities upgraded and we do not even have a room. I tell my kids everyday that we do not need a room to be successful and we are making great strides. I am trying to get some thoughts and reasons on the benefits of a room, not just posts that state the obvious fact that it is not necessary to have a room to be successful. Sounds like this isn't actually for a paper you are writing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwrestler10 Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 The project is about a financial issue at a school. Well, my school is in the process of discussing a new wrestling room. There are a lot of financial issues involved with this. I assure you, it is for my project. All of the suggestions and issues posted above are issues I have already incorporated into my project. I am going to put a link to this discussion so people in my class can see that the issues that I discussed in the project are not just my opinion. Thanks for the two in depth posts. I already had all of these points in the project and this just reassures me that I was thinking on the right track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweepSinglePro Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Having a wrestling room is about as critical to a team or individual's success as having the most expensive pair of wrestling shoes. Sure they are nice to have and pretty to look at, but in the end it is the people that fill them that makes the difference. unless you bought magical wrestling shoes that granted super strenght, speed, and great technique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smiths2310 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I teach/coach at a school that does not have a wrestling room. The high school team shares the auxiliary gym with the boys/girls JV basketball teams. It is very distracting for us and them. We would play music during our warm-up and have the b-ball coaches asking us to turn it down or off. They would be doing ball handling drills and I would have to try and talk over them during instruction. My wrestlers would like a sense of belonging, some place that is theirs that they can call home. We are scheduled either right after school or at 6:00. With wrestlers that do not drive they have to stay after and wait, which can lead to trouble or go home and hope their parent will bring them back and then come back after practice to pick them up. The middle school team practices and has matches in the commons, right at the front door. It can be like Grand Central Station when there is a b-ball game. The cheerleaders also use the commons for practice - a major distraction. Our elementary program also suffers. We have curtailed the time we spend with our elementary program because we cannot have a set location or schedule for practice. This has also lead to fewer participants. With a room: 1. fewer distractions 2. sense of ownership 3. safer 4. able to meet the needs of all three programs - high school, middle school and elementary 5. all athletes would be able to practice and be home at a reasonable time in the evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bharmon01 Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 I agree with all the reasons that have been stated for the positive of having a wrestling room. But, I don't think it is the key to having success. My first years out of college, down in Texas, we practice in the front entrance of the gym and then a hallway above the auditorium. We had success not because of a room, but because the kids worked hard. It didn't matter where we practiced. They didn't know any difference. That was all they knew. They didn't have any idea of what a wrestling room was. Thats the great thing about wrestling - improvise, adapt and overcome - as Gunny Highway would say! Wrestling is a sport that doesnt get a lot of respect, but thats ok - most people who have wrestled dont really care. We do it because e love it and thats all that matters room or not. Thats what I love about next weekend - a bunch of people in st louis that only care about wrestling. Its my favorite weekend of the year besides state. So make the best of what you have and keep wrestling. A room is great, but it doesnt define the sport. Of course I have a room now and I can say that - for all of you out there without a wrestling room - keep wrestling! improvise, adapt and overcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roxmom Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I have to agree that I believe,as do many of our wrestlers, that a wrestling room is important. Currently, our small number of wrestlers practice on the stage of the cafeteria. Luckily, no one has rolled, fallen, or been pushed from the mats yet, but, I can see that risk. As stated in above posts, our wrestlers have to move the mats on every occasion that the stage is needed. Sometimes, they are not able to practice because there is not another spot available at that time. When the mats are on the stage, kids are walking across them in their street shoes, which as we all know can cause damage to the mats, and in a school with a small budget, we definitely cannot afford that. I agree that a room does not make a wrestler, however, to know that they belong somewhere IS important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Boyer Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Several years ago (actually decades ago), there was a trend in education called "open concept" schools. These schools didnt have walls separating classes. Students/teachers could see & hear what was going on in other classes all around them at the same time. There is a reason why "open concept" schools didnt last long. KBoyer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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