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Open Letter to the ISWA


Y2CJ41

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By allowing waivers, they are opening themselves up to significant issues.   A parent told me if his son misses a Schoolboys Duals slot because of an unqualified wrestler, he was going to visit a lawyer on Monday.   It’s that serious for some folks.

 

This is just my opinion.   I think most people on here love the ISWA.   I firmly believe most commenters want to see the ISWA be a vibrant and strong organization.   Despite the fact many of us were disappointed by the two event rule, we still loved the ISWA and the sport so much we just dealt with it.   Oh, there might be a few true haters out there, but they probably number less than 10 folks. 

 

And because so many us care about the organization, we tried to warn the ISWA this exact problem would happen back in March.   For most people, the warnings came from a place of genuine care about the state of wrestling within the ISWA.

 

Now there is a waiver mentioned in a letter on April 29.  The wrestling community is once again responding and pleading with the ISWA.    Once again, for most of the membership this coming from a place where folks are hoping to protect the organization.   And once again, nothing but silence.   None of this stress was necessary.   And all of it could be relieved with one blast email or post to iswa.com or Facebook.  

Some are worried about a split.  What the community really should be concerned about is an organization beset by issues that becomes non-functional.    No reasonable person wants that to happen.  

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Just for kicks I looked at the Illinois Freestyle registration numbers for their State tournament this weekend and they are at 655 registered wrestlers.  Their registration closes 1 hour before ours.  The current registration for the ISWA Freestlye tournament is now at 339. 

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Just for kicks I looked at the Illinois Freestyle registration numbers for their State tournament this weekend and they are at 655 registered wrestlers. Their registration closes 1 hour before ours. The current registration for the ISWA Freestlye tournament is now at 339.

They do have double our state population and a somewhat stronger wrestling interest level in that land of Lincoln. Wisconsins numbers maybe slightly better for comparison purposes based on state population and wrestling interest level. Edited by MattM
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They do have double our state population and a somewhat stronger wrestling interest level in that land of Lincoln. Wisconsins numbers maybe slightly better for comparison purposes based on state population and wrestling interest level.

 

I agree.  Just wish our numbers were close to that. 

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The ISWA changed the policy concerning qualification for Freestyle due to a number of reasons.  Athletes were not competing in the locals and just wrestling the state tournament.  Clubs had quit hosting Freestyle and Greco tournaments because numbers were down.  We made the change because the ISWA’s mission is to provide our athletes with opportunities to compete.   We made that change at our Annual meeting in September of 2014.  We posted it on our website, on our Face Book page and in our newsletters.

This was successful to some extent.  I have been told that over 500 more athletes competed in the locals than last season.  Three new tournaments were placed on the schedule to help the athletes to be able to qualify for the state tournament.   These are all positive things that have come out of this policy change.

 

Now let’s talk about the petition or wavier process.  The wavier or petition process has been around for as long as I have belonged on the ISWA board.  This process was used all those years but not greatly because the kids were wrestling in local the tournaments.   We always have taken the kids side and tried to help everyone.  We look at the reasons and make decisions on whether or not to allow that person to compete.    Each person who called and contacted us was told to email the request for a waiver.  Unfortunately there have been miscommunications and some people did not get a response.  I will take full responsibility on that one.  We failed and I do apologize.    Better planning on our part will correct that issue.

 

This year it became apparent that all the clubs were not aware of the process.    To make sure that all the clubs knew of the process we sent out the letter.   Was that wrong to make sure everyone was aware of the process.  No.  Our goal is not to hand out waivers to everyone, just the few that legitimately could not make the locals.  But like anything there are people who will not be totally truthful and will abuse what is meant to be good and make it bad.

 

Did those that went to the local tournaments make sacrifices?  I am sure they did.  Did all the local clubs and officials who volunteered their time make sacrifices?  Sure they did.  Why?  Because they believe in the sport of wrestling! 

Can the ISWA do a better job?  Yes we can!  Do all decisions make everyone happy?  NO.  But one thing you can be certain of, we are here volunteering for your kids. 

 

Respectfully yours

Louis Rosbottom

ISWA State Chairman

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I only see 4 or 5 kids that are in the "wrestlers" category on trackwrestling.  Are these the kids who did not wrestle in two free style events?  I guess if that is all, ISWA should do the correct procedure and refund their money and nix them from the tourney.  That would put this issue at rest.  These 4 or 5 wrestlers should not be above the rest of the wrestlers.  They need to conform to the rules. The tourney obviously has enough wrestlers to fulfill the goal of making them wrestle two events.

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The ISWA changed the policy concerning qualification for Freestyle due to a number of reasons.  Athletes were not competing in the locals and just wrestling the state tournament.  Clubs had quit hosting Freestyle and Greco tournaments because numbers were down.  We made the change because the ISWA’s mission is to provide our athletes with opportunities to compete.   We made that change at our Annual meeting in September of 2014.  We posted it on our website, on our Face Book page and in our newsletters.

This was successful to some extent.  I have been told that over 500 more athletes competed in the locals than last season.  Three new tournaments were placed on the schedule to help the athletes to be able to qualify for the state tournament.   These are all positive things that have come out of this policy change.

 

Now let’s talk about the petition or wavier process.  The wavier or petition process has been around for as long as I have belonged on the ISWA board.  This process was used all those years but not greatly because the kids were wrestling in local the tournaments.   We always have taken the kids side and tried to help everyone.  We look at the reasons and make decisions on whether or not to allow that person to compete.    Each person who called and contacted us was told to email the request for a waiver.  Unfortunately there have been miscommunications and some people did not get a response.  I will take full responsibility on that one.  We failed and I do apologize.    Better planning on our part will correct that issue.

 

This year it became apparent that all the clubs were not aware of the process.    To make sure that all the clubs knew of the process we sent out the letter.   Was that wrong to make sure everyone was aware of the process.  No.  Our goal is not to hand out waivers to everyone, just the few that legitimately could not make the locals.  But like anything there are people who will not be totally truthful and will abuse what is meant to be good and make it bad.

 

Did those that went to the local tournaments make sacrifices?  I am sure they did.  Did all the local clubs and officials who volunteered their time make sacrifices?  Sure they did.  Why?  Because they believe in the sport of wrestling! 

Can the ISWA do a better job?  Yes we can!  Do all decisions make everyone happy?  NO.  But one thing you can be certain of, we are here volunteering for your kids. 

 

Respectfully yours

Louis Rosbottom

ISWA State Chairman

 

 

 

 

"The wavier or petition process has been around for as long as I have belonged on the ISWA board."The response I received from the ISWA did not indicate there was a wavier process back in March.

 

AT THE END OF THE DAY MY SON DID NOT WRESTLE THIS WEEKEND NOT BECUASE HE DIDN'T WANT TO, IT'S BECAUSE I TOLD HIM HE MADE A CHOICE AND HE DID NOT QUALIFY, BECAUSE HE CHOSE TO COMPETE IN OTHER "FOLKSTYLE" TOURNAMENTS AND PLAY SPRING FOOTBALL.

 

"But one thing you can be certain of, we are here volunteering for your kids." Thank you

 

 

I e-mailed ISWA

March 16, 2015:

 

Good Morning

            

I am trying figure out how to meet this requirement of hitting 2 local Freestyle tournaments for my son to participate in Freestyle State, but looking at the schedule it's not going to work. My son Hayden is playing spring football and the games are on Saturdays, plus you throw in spring break March 27- April 5th and the Elm Duals April 10,11,12, OTC, Gladiator Duals/Viper Pit . Example: Mooresville Freestyle open is this weekend start time is 10:00 his game is at 11:00. Again all of his games are on Saturday. I wanted to know if there is going to be any exemptions or any changes or do I just tell him either football or freestyle?

 

ISWA Response

March 16, 2015

At this time I do not for see any changes to this rule as we are now beginning freestyle season. The requirement is 2 local tournaments, and unfortunately there will be no exceptions made to this. Perhaps there is 1 weekend when they don't have a game and you could squeeze one in? And maybe he misses a game?

 

Edited by wwatson
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Louis,

Thank you for your response. However, as stated before MANY people made sacrifices to get to two events. People missed family weddings, missed out on national events, missed work, missed SAT/ACT testings, etc. These same people were told "there will be no exceptions" made to this rule. Now all of a sudden there are exceptions being made. Does the ISWA realize the ramifications of all of this? What rules can we now get a petition around? Can a kid get a waiver for 5 extra pounds on the scale because he twisted his ankle and couldn't cut weight? Can a kid get a waiver to not even have to weigh in?

 

Rules were made, they were followed by many people whether they agreed with the rule or not. Now they are being told this rule was a joke. I was told in March there would be a waiver process. I was told in a text this week that "you knew there would be waivers granted." What are we teaching kids with this? What are you saying about the rules your organization sets forth? The ramifications of this will be felt for a while. If you decide to keep the two tournament requirement next year people will laugh and just wait for the waiver period. Any gains the local tournaments felt this year will be lost next year.

 

There are over 10% of the entries that most likely didn't get two local events in. What kind of waiver process is it when everyone that asks for one gets in?

 

In the end this leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. I try to support the ISWA as much as possible, but this is one situation where you guys royally messed up. Usually the ISWA thinks things through, but from what I was told...it was almost unanimous on the board to allow waivers. That is not a good sign for the organization.

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Like Mr Watson, I presented the options to my boys at the beginning of the season; we looked carefully through our schedules and locked down what we were going to do at that time; one boy chose to make sacrifice because he really wanted to compete at state, the other chose not to compete at state. What sacrifices: he forfeited his spot on the national middle school dual team competing at Danville to get a local tournament in and like many others sat 8+ hours in a gym to get two matches while there were far better national tournaments to attend. Now I scan through the entrant list and message posts and it seems this was all a great hoax. I truly want to believe in the ISWA, but wow what a year seemingly mared with follies and fumbles.

 

"But like anything there are people who will not be totally truthful and will abuse what is meant to be good and make it bad"

 

This statement rings so true, not only for individuals but for the ISWA organization as a whole. Hopefully I am simply drawing the wrong conclusions, but there is certainly doubt in my mind of who is being truthful and honest.

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I think you all need to go back to your (ISWA) by-laws and make sure you all are in check.  I also think the statement made on your page about how you support all your members and keep them informed needs to be reviewed.  I do not fall under a club, but I do have a coaching card that I have optionally bought for several years and my son has an ISWA card that we have purchased for over 10 years.  I think I have just as much right to receive information regarding any decision and/or outcomes from any meetings or in this case secret meetings with last minute revisions.  Simply go to your collection of applications (that are now on a computer), pick send to all emails and send us some information for the love of wrestling.  Truly takes only minutes, cost nothing and would solve all your communication issues (well, the ones you want out).

Edited by warsawwrestling
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Now the ISWA should begin to look at the Nationals Duals team selection process.  At first glance I saw an upper weight Junior wrestler who appears to have only wrestled in Freestyle State once in the past 3 years and did not place.  In addition this wrestler hasn't even participated in a single ISWA Freestyle or Greco event this season or last. How has this wrestler has been selected to be on the team? His only qualification was a good 2015 high school season.  The only other thing I can find is that he may be close to one of the coaches, but I can't be sure this is the case. I would guess there are others of similar circumstance but haven't had time to check.  According to the coaches of this team from a posting earlier in the year they want to be competitive with other states like Illinois in Freestyle and Greco on a national level...odd they would select wrestlers who lack any participation in Freestyle and Greco this season (or last) on a local or state level. 

 

 

Where is there a list of the potential Junior Dual members team listed?

Edited by NPSmith
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I didn't realize Indiana had so many national caliber kids and hammers that it's gonna kill our local spring freestyle season. I guess I've been living in the dark far too long.

 

I anticipate us to be a top 5 state w/ all the national talent we are sitting on, holy smokes.

I'm pretty sure the cadet natl team was close to gold pool last year and close, if not there, 2 years ago for FS.

 

I don't think the point is that it will kill locals by boycotting or not being able to attend but more wouldn't you like to have those types involved at the local level and in your clubs? Role models both on and off the mat are good for the lower age groups. Having Little Johnny see a natl level kid is inspirational.

 

Maybe I'm missing your point.

Edited by UncleJimmy
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I'm pretty sure the cadet natl team was close to gold pool last year and close, if not there, 2 years ago for FS.

 

I don't think the point is that it will kill locals by boycotting or not being able to attend but more wouldn't you like to have those types involved at the local level and in your clubs? Role models both on and off the mat are good for the lower age groups. Having Little Johnny see a natl level kid is inspirational.

 

Maybe I'm missing your point.

I agree and would add.......There are tons of high caliber kids that wrestle Folkstyle and that don't wrestle Freestyle.  To me this is one of the biggest changes that needs to be figured out.  Is freestyle not fun to these kids, is it because there is more Folkstyle opportunities, is it because mom and dad are afraid they will get hurt or is it because of how it is setup. 

 

I know that I come across as someone that is not an ISWA supporter, but this is far from true.  I also can see and am, like a lot of people, upset with the stance that ISWA took back in March (not only the stance but how they responded to questions and suggestions), but now are even more upset because of how they are handling themselves and this situation now.

 

To question, judge and hold people accountable is normal and should be done, and I stick to my guns that ISWA is a business and needs to start acting like it. Excuses about communication, changing rules in the 3rd period with 20 seconds left and not willing to listen to current members (not only teams, but card holders) is damaging not only to ISWA but also Indiana Wrestling.  No matter how you feel about any of these situations it doesn't make Indiana Wrestling any better to have division in the community as a whole.

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Like Mr Watson, I presented the options to my boys at the beginning of the season; we looked carefully through our schedules and locked down what we were going to do at that time; one boy chose to make sacrifice because he really wanted to compete at state, the other chose not to compete at state. What sacrifices: he forfeited his spot on the national middle school dual team competing at Danville to get a local tournament in and like many others sat 8+ hours in a gym to get two matches while there were far better national tournaments to attend. Now I scan through the entrant list and message posts and it seems this was all a great hoax. I truly want to believe in the ISWA, but wow what a year seemingly mared with follies and fumbles.

"But like anything there are people who will not be totally truthful and will abuse what is meant to be good and make it bad"

 

This statement rings so true, not only for individuals but for the ISWA organization as a whole. Hopefully I am simply drawing the wrong conclusions, but there is certainly doubt in my mind of who is being truthful and honest.

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*NOPE CANT FIND ANYTHING ON WAIVERS*

*INVISABLE INK*

*YOU MIGHT NEED A CODE*

*MIGHT HAVE TO BE 18 YEARS OLD*

*WHERE THE SECRET MENU*

*WEBSITE DOWN*

*FORGOT TO INFORM YOU*

*JOKES ON YOU*

 

 

 

 

ISWA flyer on there website .

ISWA FREESTYLE & GRECO-ROMAN

STATE FINALS

 

MAY 1-3rd, 2015

 

Avon High School

7575 East County Road 150 South, Avon, Indiana 46123

From I-465 Exit to US 36 West (Rockville Road), South on Dan Jones to

County Road 150 South (Oriole Way) - Enter Door 33 for Weigh-ins.

 

Prior qualification is required to participate in the Freestyle State Finals- Indiana residents only!

 

All participants must compete in a minimum of 2 Local level Freestyle tournaments in order to compete at the State event.

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Does anyone know the number of unqualified wrestlers who ended up in the top 3 for cadet and juniors and top 2 for schoolboys?

I counted about 20. Now that doesn't take into consideration those with multiple track wrestling profiles that may have had matches on separate profiles. Also doesn't consider injured wrestlers. If you dig yup might be surprised how many champions there were. When I went through and saw some of the wrestlers,if you truly wanted a representation of the best wrestlers some are on that list.

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