Wrestling Blogs - Justin Giovinco

For years I've listened to hundreds of philosophies on how Wrestling Programs get to "the next level". Most of what I am talking about is at the High School or Club level. I've heard everything from Summer Camps, to feeder programs, to simply playing more games in the wrestling room to keep spirits high. While I can't deny any of these methods may work, I'd suggest gaining insight from someone standing on the outside looking in. A large part of being successful at anything, is simply believing. But I'm not just talking about believing in yourself, I'm talking about believing in "the system". From a coaching perspective, "the system" is what you created. "The system" is your practice schedule, the repetition of drills, the competition schedule, the coach's you surround yourself with, the motivational pep talks before match's, and many other components. When you put "a system" in place that can generate individual success, that will create belief. It will create belief within those witnessing this individual success. If your current "system" doesn't have a lot of individual success to show for, then swallow your pride, and change it. Sometimes the smallest of changes can make a world of a difference.

I recently joined the Coaching staff of a fairly successful Wrestling team, and midway thru the season, the Coach's approached me and asked "What do we have to do?" Every year they win their City Championship, every year they qualify several wrestlers to the State Tourny, every summer they hit Freestyle hard. But very rarely do they even get a State place winner. So what else could be done? While I'll be the first to point out that I'm no expert on this, I could however, offer an outside perspective. The first thing I pointed out was the lack of fund raising, and the second order of business was getting the appropriate off season schedule in order. These were 2, very small changes, I could see as immediately do-able, and would have quick and lasting results.

The problem I saw w/ this team "on the mat", is the lack of "big match" experience, and a serious lack of exposure. Gaining "big match" experience at tournaments like Fargo (Jr's and cadets) is monumental if you can get that experience at a young age (9th/10th grade). After wrestling at this tournament, ANY High School State Tourny will seem much smaller in scale, resulting in a calmer, more prepared wrestler. Off season tournaments like Fargo, are a MUST if you plan on getting to "the next level". So if you don't already compete in their qualifiers, then figure out a way to get there.

Off the mat, this team was fairly old fashioned in how they generated money for the program. The majority of their budget was school issued. And with a team of 70 kids, standard budget doesn't even get the team T-SHIRTS, let alone buy them into quality tournaments. Every successful High School Program has a solid foundation of finances behind it. If the finances are not present, then run annual fundraisers to raise the money. I cooperated in a 10K-Run fundraiser when I was in high school, that was hosted by a local rival High School. That school has now been doing the 10K-Run for 10+ years now. Not only does that school attend the best Tournaments every year (Ironman, Beast of the East, 5 Counties, etc...), but they also have the money to pay for their kids to make the trip to Fargo, if they qualify.

These 2 small changes could make all of the difference in the world for this program. The extra money will allow them to compete in bigger tournaments, giving kids "big match" experience. Aside from getting big match experience, they will also get the exposure they never had. These changes will eventually lead to individual success. Whether that be in the form of a State Place finisher, or a Scholarship earned. And others will see the success and follow in their footsteps.