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.