Arrow77

The kids dont have any choice in the schedule they wrestle. But if you feel better putting them down, great for you. 

Pretty good break down as to why some people in Indiana won't wrestle greco at their local tournaments or nationally. And before you argue that greco is useless then please explain to me why the last time I was at the Olympic Training Center a few weeks ago how come almost all of the freestyle national team was joining the Greco practices every afternoon? The national freestyle coaches must not know what they're doing if they're having their guys wrestle Greco...
 
 
http://www.myrmidontrained.com/blog/2015/2/18/the-top-reasons-why-you-wont-wrestle-greco

This was a tough decision for the ISWA to make and you don't have to be a major player in the Indiana Wrestling scene to know that there would be 'pushback' from the member clubs of the organization for mandating local freestyle tourneys to qualify for freestyle state.
 
I've been involved with the ISWA for a while now and there have been decisions made by our organization that I thought were outstanding and some that I thought sucked eggs (please don't make me list them publicly! ha!).
 
Truth be told, the ISWA is a large and very mature wrestling organization.  I always love coming back from an out of state USA Wrestling tourney.  If you go to Central Regionals when it's held in MI, you'll appreciate how well our organization works.
 
The qualifiying process of two local tourneys to qualify for freestyle state was established to help grow freestyle opportunities.  I'm under the impression that a couple local clubs in different areas of the state are in the process of getting a freestyle tourney.  That's exactly what the ISWA was hoping would happen.  
 
The question of whether this was a good idea or not is still left to be decided.  I know in last weekends meeting I specifically brought up the question of whether this qualifying process is going to be evaluated and up for discussion in the future and it will be.  It might turn out to be something that was awesome and this is an outstanding decision made....or it could be awful and hurt the growth of freestyle opportunities.  Either way, our organization will make adjustments.
 
I sat through all the meetings in the past as freestyle season was shortened because more and more people wanted folkstyle tournaments and our organization acted accordingly.  Now our organization is trying to find a way to encourage freestyle opportunities.  
 
My reason for this post is to hopefully rally the troops to look at the ISWA as 'OUR' organization.  There have been decisions that have been made in the past that have totally pissed me off (again, please don't make me post this list either! ha!).  Other decisions I thought have been great.  I do feel that while our organization is far from perfect, is the best in the country.  
 
The worst thing we can do is "pick up my ball and go somewhere else".  I believe that the worst thing could happen to Indiana wrestling is if we had a pocket of Indiana that is AAU another pocket of Indiana that is USA Wrestling and another pocket that is MYWAY.  I am far passionate about all the things USA Wrestling does and it's effects on ISWA, but it's OUR organization and I feel that it is best for all of Indiana Wrestling if we act together.  
 
If you don't like what happens in the ISWA, then contact the office. You can send an email to your section rep and they can present it at the meeting if you cannot attend.  I think the webcast idea is awesome and I'd bet that the board would make that happen if there truly was an interest in that.
 
More importantly my hope is that we look at our organization as OURS and everyone does as much as they can to continue making it the best in the country.

I don't' live anywhere near Indy, I drive to Evansville (3 hours) for Semi State, have to get a hotel, I drive to Indy for State 3 times (High School, Folkstyle, Freestyle) and get hotel rooms....I also usually drive to Indy for the annual ISWA meeting (Let Tskin cover it this year).  
 
I just drove 4 hours round trip this past Sunday to get my 5 year old matches b/c he asked me if he could wrestle. 
 
 
Nobody can ever complain to me about travel!
 
I just can't wait for SingleB to collect a freestyle medal b/c evidently it's going to be a ghost town in Avon in May.....hahaha....

Please note that this subject was given much thought and discussion at Sundays board meeting. An official statement on this matter will be sent out VERY soon. I can tell you a few things. First, there will be more tournaments added. Clubs realize the need for more tourneys in the corners of the state, so they will be stepping up. For me, this is VERY exciting and goes to show that the new guidelines are helping to provide more opportunities. Second, the two tournament rule will not apply to Greco. This was waived at the end of the last calendar year. If anyone would attend the monthly meetings, they would be aware of this fact. Lastly, this was not put in place over night. This policy was brought to the table this time last year. I would encourage all clubs or people with serious concerns on policy (such as this one) to attend a meeting and to voice their opinions. I assure you that you will be heard and given a fair shake. Sure this message board helps get things out there.......... but if you would like to make you views truly heard, you do have a forum (once a month). Please come! I can assure you that you do not get this with most other state's organizations. If you have attended an ISWA board meeting (not just the annual meeting) you would see that all policy changes are discussed and voted on. There are no knee jerk policies being made. I have set through a hour debate about tape on headgear! I assure you all that your concerns have been taken into consideration. Will all of us bee happy with the outcome??????? NO, but how can we knock an organization for trying to do the best that they can for kids. If anyone thinks that there is anything else other then that motivating the ISWA, then they are just plain wrong. We will continue to give you all what you want. Also, we will do what we think is the best to continue to develop our Greco and Freestyle programs. At the end of the day.... If these policies fail ...... we will have to go back and tweak things. But, we must try something to keep Freestyle and Greco alive. If nothing is changed.... then it will continue to die. NONE of us want that!!! Please stand by for an official response from your state board.
 
Matthew Brewer
ISWA Kids Director

I have been in contact with several board members and several prominent coaches up north about hosting some additional tournaments this spring/summer to help the folks up north out.  Officially it is too late.  Unofficially we may be able to pull it off.  We still have to wait until this Sunday to hash it out. But us dropping to 1 qualifier will absolutely come up and I would be OK with that.
 
In regards to Cadet/Junior wrestlers who travel for Folkstyle nationally and miss local F/G tournaments, that is a decision they have to make. Our athletes are pushed to do as many as possible.  It's tough for me, or I am not in a position, to care that much about individual decisions of a very select few.  For me it is a matter of priority.  Do you hit every national Folkstyle event you can across the country to continue wrestling Folkstyle?  Or do you hit every F/G tournament you can to develop your international skills?  Me personally, it's a no brainer and I'm going F/G because I wrestle Folkstyle all year anyway.  In no way do I want to come off harsh or uncaring, but we have "elite" guys at IPWA who compete at these national events...and now they have to make room for TWO (possibly one) LOCAL TOURNAMENTS.  If they can travel 8 hours across the country to wrestle in a Folkstyle event, they can travel two hours to a local F/G tournament.  It is a conscious decision.  If it is required then it is required. 
 
Again, I am biased and in no way do I think everyone should think like me.  However, when I am physically there coaching at the national tournaments and we have 30+ Indiana kids who truly do not know how to gut, or stop a gut for that matter, and I have Kevin Jackson, John Smith, and Zeke Jones all standing behind me recruiting kids - it is a bad look for Indiana. To my knowledge, these coaches are not in VA, Iowa, Scholastic Duals, Tournament of Champions, etc.  I do alternate between Iowa and Flo, and that is the extent of my national Folkstyle events. Outside of the open tournaments, J Robinson, head coach of Minnesota, makes his all of his redshirts train F/G all year, ending with FILA Juniors.  If thats where they are going, and what they are looking for, then by God that's where my focus is if I am a competitor.  Again, it's a personal decision athletes, parents and coaches must decide.
 
As far as state populations, that to me is more of an excuse.  We can only play the hand we are dealt and unfortunately we are millions of people short.  On the other hand, I prefer quality over quantity in this regard. New York has more people than Illinois but Illinois still beats them pretty soundly. The reason we aren't good in Freestyle and Greco is because we don't focus on Freestyle and Greco.  We have gotten better as a state in Folkstyle because we focus more on Folkstyle.  In order for me be a professional basketball player, I have to practice basketball.  I want to go get better at Poker and the only way I can do that is play Poker as much as I can.  I can't focus on Euker and think I can pick up Poker even though they are both card games.
 
Indiana, for the size of our state, is proportionally slightly above average using the ol' eyeball. This is all relative of course but we come in around 10th overall in all styles.  We can win Folkstyle Nationals but we come in 31st out of 32 teams in Greco. Lastly, with spring sports, I get it. It is a tough position to be in. When I was younger I can remember playing baseball, basketball, tennis, soccer and football in the same year.  My parents went out of their way to ensure I had every opportunity available to try everything until I found my niche. Unfortunately, we also must ultimately pick one, at the most two, sports to SPECIALIZE in.  Jack of all trades, master of nothing.  Again, not to sound insensitive, but spring sports aren't my problem.  My focus is wrestling, particularly Indiana wrestling.  To be the best at wrestling I need to dedicate myself to wrestling. This is a family decision that I fully understand and do not hold it against families that choose to invest in other sports.  The success will speak for itself.
 
More Freestyle duals are on the way.  Carmel is hosting an event this year and there is talk of an ISWA Freestyle Dual State in the near future.  We have to get the momentum first and to do that someone has to make a tough decision trailblazing and innovating.  Coach P is the first coach I can recall that went out on a limb to have Freestyle duals.  It could be an awesome event or completely bomb, but either way if you build it they will eventually come.  I think it's awesome though and hopefully he lets us in! Lbvs 

As a board member of the ISWA, RTC Director, Team Indiana National Coach, and owner of Indiana Pride Wrestling Academy, I welcome this change.  The current trends show F/G participation is widely down and something needed to be done.  Due to the ISWA having previous success with this in the past, it was only a logical decision.  Will there be bugs? Yes. They will get worked out. Will it be an inconvenience for some initially?  Yes.  However this inconvenience is only temporary.  With any change comes a transition process and there will be some that won't like it, but in the grand scheme of things requiring qualification was the ISWA's attempt to boost F/G participation. I feel this move in turn will begin to help clubs feel more comfortable about hosting more F/G tournaments, because there are more participants, which ultimately helps Indiana get better in both quality and quantity.  
 
As an official ambassador of USAW, ISWA has the obligation and privilege of adhering to this mission: "Guided by the Olympic Spirit...shall responsibly advocate, promote, coordinate, and provide quality opportunities for its members to achieve their full human and athletic potential. This sometimes requires tough decisions to be made.  "Guided by the Olympic Spirit..." Will everyone in your room be an Olympic Champion? Of course not.  But our jobs, our responsibility, as coaches and parents are to push our child and athlete to maximize their potential - whatever that may be - both on and off the mat. If your goals are too low then your results will be the same, however, if you aim for the stars at least you'll hit clouds if not the moon.  There is a 50/50 chance you will win Friday night at Banker's Life if you are just glad to be there, but the athlete who truly is trying to win the title will at least place 99% of the time.
 
Here are the problems: There are not enough kids training in F/G, not enough F/G tournaments available, not enough interest in F/G, the national wrestling schedule, spring sports schedule, etc. We have become a Folkstyle heavy state and, as good as we are doing in it, the top collegiate programs and coaches prefer more well rounded athletes.  No different than a college football coach preferring football players that wrestle, so too do college wrestling coaches prefer wrestlers that are versed in the international styles.  Why? Because they are generally better than the seasonal wrestler. Indiana as a whole is only slightly above average on the national level in these styles and it starts at home. It is too late to teach a gut wrench at the national tournament, or even at the training camp, and hope to be successful.  It has to be done before then. The problem is the international styles are not enforced, required, pushed, pubbed, etc. here in Indiana as much as they should be.
 
Let's look at the dates:  IHSAA State = end of February.  ISWA Folkstyle State = first couple of weeks in March.  Iowa and Flow Nationals = first week of April.  ISWA Freestyle & Greco State = first week of May. This means as a state we essentially have only one month to train/compete in the international style locally before the national schedule kicks in.  We train for Folkstyle roughly 7-10 months out of the year and 1-2 months in the international styles.  There is the disparity and that is not going to cut it for Indiana on the national level.  The best kids in Illinois wrestle F/G because they were encouraged to do so by someone or some thing.  Yes they have more kids but it is the culture of their state's wrestling community that makes the the truest difference.
 
I put the primary blame on us as coaches for the lack of F/G participation, not the academies or RTCs, as coaches are the official link between the athlete and the sport.  Many of us don't influence or push our athletes to train and compete in these styles, many of us don't know enough about these styles too push it, and some of us prefer to simply be stubborn about F/G's importance.  We don't see the big picture, basically focused on Folkstyle because "that is what they wrestle in college." Still, there are others who legitimately don't have the time or resources to push it.  Between families, careers, finances, logistics, recruiting, training, etc. we simply have lives to live. However, this doesn't take away from the fact that in order to maximize our athletes potential and success in scholastic, Folkstyle, wrestling, you HAVE to take full advantage of Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.
 
Now I can't speak for all academies but at IPWA we REQUIRE our athletes to train in the international styles.  They know F/G season is coming, whether they like or not. They also get better because of it...whether they like it or not. We push F/G before, during and after practice every day, our schedule is full of local, regional and national F/G tournaments, and our members try to be everywhere, every weekend.  Now, because of this ISWA requirement, these "All-Star" athletes HAVE to compete locally (which ours do already), boosting the competition and participant level of these tournaments, the handful of petitions will be even more justified, and more Team Indiana members will have a higher chance of knowing a gut wrench come national time.
 
As far as the new RTC format, it's the same thing.  We cannot control some ones room.  If a coach wants to focus on Folkstyle year-round because they feel that will get the best out of their athletes and programs, that is their right and decision, and that is what many do. The RTCs are what the ISWA can control.  Therefor we design it so it best suits OUR cause, which is Indiana wrestling as a whole - not just one school - so we don't have to teach guts and laces a week before nationals.  If kids want to train for Folkstyle State and Folkstyle Nationals, that it what the schools and clubs are for as they already focus on Folkstyle for 7-10 months out of the year anyway. The ISWA RTC application is a modified version of the USAW Regional Training Site Application, as hosting an RTC is not a right but a privilege, and the standard class to see if you are a good enough coach is actually supposed to be 6 hours long and the absolute fastest one I have seen is 3 hours. Why? Because we cater to the coaches. People have to leave, get back to the hotel, get to weigh ins, get to dinner, etc.  The answers are also discussed because many would not pass on their own without some discourse, and that is welcomed to ensure we can all walk out knowing the right ones instead of assuming.
 
In order for our athletes to be better versed in wrestling we must ourselves be better versed as coaches, from the grassroots to the international level.  USAW has even rolled out a new coaches education program on January 1st for this reason.  It is designed to make it easier to understand and manage the certification process, and has much more in depth data, information and tools for our coaches to use to get the best out of their athletes and programs. They have the same problems we have to an extent. The U.S. is behind the best in the world because we are Folkstyle heavy. By educating and providing tools for grass root coaches to get better, USAW does not have to train and re-train athletes as much when they get to the international level.  We as coaches need to be more inclined to continue growing in this sport, educating ourselves, continue making that sacrifice...not for the money of course but for the cause.
 
To digress, I can guarantee the topic of requiring at least 1 tournament, rather than 2, will be brought up this Sunday at the monthly ISWA meeting, and we may be able to meet halfway. The meeting starts at noon and is held at the ISWA office in Beech Grove.  The organization has never claimed to have all answers and is not the illuminati. The ISWA members are some of Indiana's most dedicated and lifelong supporters of Indiana wrestling, volunteering their time and traveling across the state to help further develop the cause.  Some don't read these boards but I do.  I encourage anyone that has some ideas to show up.  They have never turned any one away and the door is and has always been open for anyone in the wrestling community to sit in and provide feedback.  By working together and aligning expectations as much as possible we can all benefit.  I hope this helps provide at least some clarification and best wishes this season!

Well over the course of the last two years I would of hoped more northern clubs would of took initiative to host some tourney's.  The path we were on was not working as numbers have decreased dramatically at FS and GR from what they used to be.  So something had to change.  Will this change be the right answer?  Well if northern Clubs don't accept it and begin to host local tourneys then for that area it could backfire.  I hope someone up in that area will take the step to host since it sounds like not many tourney's are offered.

I can see that, once again I blame folkstyle season!