Okay I am going to try as hard as I can to answer the questions that I can as well as give some insight (as well as my opinion like always haha) without going off on tangents or making it confusing.
To start, thank you for the kind words that some of you had to say about me and working with the Junior National Teams, as I am not used to that sort of response on here haha. It was a privilege getting to work with all of the kids the past three or so weeks with the schoolboys, cadets, and juniors all spending sleeping and practicing at the cave. The groups of kids that came through and then that I also traveled with were hungry to learn and work hard, they listened, responded, and made adjustments during the camps and the competitions and i believe we saw steady improvement out of all of them along the way.
Next Sbutler, I will try and respond to some of the things that you said one at a time.
1)Thanks for giving Mansfield and Hart props and recognition for their accomplishments this weekend with Hart suffering only one loss in Greco and going undefeated in Freestyle putting him on the All Tournament Team, and Mansfield being one of only 9 wrestlers in the entire tournament to go undefeated in both styles making both All Tournament Teams. (just surprised it wasn't followed up with a but georgia did better hahaha jk jk)
2)As far as Scusa being more realistic and utilizing the coaches in different parts of the state, I can assure you that Scusa is all for using and benefiting from coaches from every corner of the state and as many as we can possibly get involved and helping. There is no need to have secrets on here or even hide behind screen names (I'm not gonna mention any names or anything cough cough Wildgreco) if you have coaches that want to be a part of it or more actively involved then I would encourage you to go ahead and put it out there for all to see because not only will kids and parents in that area seek him out because of it but also it makes sure that he is actively stepping forward and ready to get his hands dirty as well.
3)Now as far as making training and camps more accessible to those in the lower state, I am not sure exactly I understand just what it is that you are wanting or saying here? For starters 3 days of camp prior to leaving on a trip is by no means enough training or sufficient training to prepare for a tournament of the national or regional level, and the reason the camps are held in the upper state for the short prep before leaving is because well, all of the tournaments we take teams to are NORTH. It would not be cost effective or time efficient to hold them in the lower state and have kids/coaches drive hours south and then turn around to back track. By no means does everything have to "Run through Greenville", but most of the wrestlers we have participating on these teams are from the upstate or even greenville area, as well as the coaches that are willing to Volunteer their time, facilities, and other things have happened to be in the upper state. If you do in fact have some capable and willing freestyle/greco coaches wherever you are in the lowcountry then charter a USA club and start holding practices. (Now this is going to be a bit of a side track but for the concerns of the SCHSL freestyle and Greco Roman wrestling fall under the olympic exception when it comes to contact with the athletes as well as are considered two completely different sports than anything that SCHSL offer, not to mention when you charter a usa wrestling club it provides a very affordable option to insure the building or site as well, and by affordable I mean any high school coach or program could handle it no problem)
6)The reason there were kids on the team with little to zero previous freestyle/greco tournaments is because 50% of the kids on the junior team were "Cavemen" and I had been pushing the international styles and these tournaments on them or emphasizing the importance of them with the training they were getting for months(in my chartered club practices)
7)Sbutler are you part of Georgia or part of Sc? You say "we" when talking about everything that you think needs to be done so I am assuming you are Sc then, and would like to help/volunteer/organize some of these training sites or chartered clubs and practices in the lower state.
8)If you think that a 3 day mandatory camp before departure is too "demanding" then i guess we have completely different views of what type of dedication and sacrifice this sport demands at every level.
8)What has been keeping the lower state and its coaches from providing proper training and getting kids down there ready and interested? That is entirely on the lower state and the coaches, parents, athletes to create. (I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN OPENING A SECOND CAVEMAN LOCATION SOON AND THE LOWER STATE WOULD BE GREAT IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO TALK FURTHER ABOUT IT)
9)By no means is scusa perfect, or even efficient currently, but the only way to get it to where we ALL want it is to quit talking about what everyone else needs to be doing or what we should be doing and charter clubs, provide training, get kids to wrestle freestyle and greco in the summer not folkstyle.
10)I will end with this, anyone that is reading this saying #Dumbdale don't know what he is talking about kids shouldn't be wrestling freestyle and greco in the summer they should be wrestling folkstyle, you are the biggest problem this state has right now with moving forward and evolving. Do some statistical research of how many kids wrestling at the division 1 level or more importantly qualifying for the division 1 national tournament not only wrestled freestyle and greco but participated either in fargo or national duals. Or think about your top 5 favorite or greatest wrestlers of all time......got them........they all wrestled freestyle or greco, and i would hope that we as a state would like to think that somewhere walking around right now yes in south carolina there is a wrestler that could someday wear that USA singlet and run a circle around that mat with the American Flag.
"If you build it they will come!!"""
p.s. xoxoxoxoxoxoxo wildgreco i miss you and we should catch up!!!!! Still waiting on that phone call.......