I agree that there is a disconnect. The going trend for years has been if you're
not directly involved ( i.e. coach, wrestler or parent of wrestler) there is little info about most events. Not to take away from the ones who do a outstanding job of sharing, while others don't provide the
basic information such as what, when and where for the wrestling events. I have come accustom to who puts on the event determines how much information i will recieve.
Now my 2 cents about this great sport.
2015 Best Western North/South All-Star Classic at North
Myrtle Beach High School is another example of not getting the word out to the public. The selected individuals were informed a few weeks ago and
there has been no public announcement of team members. The All-Star Classic is the weekend after states
(March 6-7). If history repeats itself
there will being public information next week, days before the state individual
tournament and about a week before the event. Not sure why this information is being withheld, maybe for reasons normal follows don't know but i don't understand why not give this sport and its parting seniors press time. MOST sports do this to capitalize on
bringing some extra attention to the Sport and its all-stars.
Basketball has announced their all-star
roster, over a month before the all-star game and the first week into playoffs
start. The same can be said about football
selection process of all-stars normally well before playoffs start. This bring added attention to the playoffs and thus butts in the seats.
I was and still am a football guy but 10 years ago my son introduced
me to a sport that I embarrassingly thought Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair participated
in. (Might of even asked once or twice who
was Cael Sanderson). After a short time I
was realized just what I had been missing and even had regrets that I never participated.
So while following wrestling for the
next 10 years the common complaint from wrestling community is that wrestling has
to take a back seat to the other southern rich sports. I will agree that in the
last 10 years the popularity and participation has increase drastically but not
where it could or should be. When my son
started there was only a few youth clubs being ran by HS coaches during the
season, now almost every school has one, not to mention the emergence of yearlong
training centers that allow a wrestler to spend all year on the mat. The wrestling talent has and will continue to
get better but the question is will the interest in the sport increase at the
rate to keep the talent coming. Putting
a great product on the mat doesn't necessary mean butts in the seats.
SCWCA has some great coaches that truly love working with the
kids and this great sport (surely can't be for the $$). No disrespect to these coaches and most already
have their cup runneth over. It's just not fair to ask them to teach, coach,
drive the bus, tend to family responsibilities, and on their "free time" publicized
and market their sport. Some still find
time to spread the word on this forum and send results to SC Mat.
How to spread the word or better yet further expend the sport?
My opinion, appoint or hire a individual or group to handle the publication
and marketing of the sport. I think the
SCWCA would be surprised on the amount of help they would receive if just
asked. Its a digital age that everyone has a phone, tablet or some type of gadget.
"You can
have the best product in the world, but if nobody knows about it. what good is
it?"
Phil Knight,
chairman of Nike Inc.