Wrestling Blogs - Jim Harshaw

I'm a wrestler. I competed successfully from six years old through college with some international experience. I coach. I've coached at the high school and D1 levels. I have the wrestling mentality. "No excuses." However, for some reason there is a pervasive segment of the wrestling community that is missing the "no excuses" mentality when it comes to the success of our sport. I'm frustrated by the answers I get when I hear wrestling people talk about why wrestling isn't more popular, is being dropped, isn't on tv more, doesn't have more participants, doesn't get more media coverage, doesn't have… more »

Wrestling makes us mentally strong and independent. When our coach asks us to run through a wall we simply ask "Head first or shoulder first?" However, we tend to believe that we don't need any help when it comes to running our program. We can do it all ourselves. We did it as competitors and we'll do it as coaches- or CEO's- of our program. I can do it all. I NEED to do it all.If you think of your program as a business executive thinks of his business then you will see that you shouldn't do it all. You… more »

I've always wondered why football and basketball became the most popular sports in America? Why soccer in most of the rest of the world? Why cricket in India and England? I haven't found the answer but would love to hear your opinion. Here is some food for thought. Roone Arledge is widely recognized at the genius behind taking NCAA Football's popularity to the next level. A brilliant man and innovator at ABC in the 1960's, his blueprint was to give the viewer enough background info to make him care about a game taking place thousands of miles away between teams… more »

As coaches we tell our athletes that the journey to success is a process that involves many things. For wrestlers it may mean proper diet, live wrestling, film study, flexibility, strength & conditioning, proper rest... etc. We know deep down that this is the same with any endeavor. So, coach, let's apply this thinking to program development. What can you do to develop your program? Off-season training, fundraising, film study with athletes, expose athletes to sport psychology, alumni development, hire more staff, event promotion... I can go on. To do all of these you need money and support. To get… more »

Riot quote of the Day: "The fact is, everyone is in sales. Whatever area you work in, you do have clients and you do need to sell." Jay Abraham If you're a wrestling coach you're selling your system to your wrestlers (you have a system right?), your selling your program to your boosters, your sport to your prospective athletes, your viability to your administration. First, stop and think about how you'll sell. What are you really offering? What will make your audience want to buy what you're selling? Now Sell! more »

There is a great interview on The Wrestling Mall right now with Real Pro Wrestling founder Toby Willis. Besides the fact that it finally give insight on what happened to the apparently successful wrestling league a few years ago, Willis said something that makes a lot of sense. He said, "Who cares if you can bounce a basketball? Who cares if you can hit a baseball? But self defense resonates within the heart of every man. We have to tap into that well." To those who think that wrestling cannot be marketed, that it's not exciting enough, that your school… more »

"With great power comes great responsibility" Stan Lee, creator of Spiderman In practical terms what does that mean to you and I? Well, if you're the coach then you hold the reins to your program- not just teaching single legs and double legs. But being the leader of your alumni, your fan base, your athletes, your parents. How do you lead them? You lead best by serving. A few weeks ago our pastor talked about how the Roman soldiers used to be able to basically comandeer citizens to carry their heavy hear- sword, shield, etc. for one mile. During that… more »

Are you tired of wrestling programs not getting the exposure they deserve? Are you tired of youth, high school and college wrestling programs not making any money? Riot Sports Marketing, founded by former DI All-American and head coach Jim Harshaw, has created services to help grow the sport of wrestling and end the status quo. Read more to find out how. Interview by Matt Krumrie more »

I was listening to the local public news radio last night and heard a commercial about the Elizabeth River, a very polluted river in Virginia. The commercial was about a project to get people to experience the river and learn more about it. The narrator said this: (paraphrased) "To get people to care about the river they have to learn about it and experience it." The idea here is that if you educate people about the river they will become stewards of it. They will help to revitalize the river, make it healthier and more productive. I say this... to… more »

I just listened to a podcast interview with Cary Kolat, read a blog about Junior Nationals, watched a video of Joe Warren training. If you've been to any of the major wrestling websites in the past year you'd see that they are all now taking advantage of the social media and web 2.0 tools available. Maybe it was Flo Wrestling that nudged them along or maybe it was just that it was time for them to take the leap. Themat.com has long had popular message boards but they now have more video than before. Intermat.com, TheWrestlingMall.com, Wrestling 411.tv and the… more »

Ray Kroc has not been to all 28,000 McDonald's. Nor did he create the first McDonald's burger. What he did was discover a great idea, created a series of systems that enabled him to repeat what was being done on a vastly profitable scale. What about you? What's holding you back in your program? Where is your weakness? What do you know how to do but hate doing? Do it once and write down the steps. Now you have a system. Do it 3 more times and re-write your system as necessary. Then, pass it on to someone else. You… more »

Did you ever notice how a wrestler’s personality dictates his wrestling style? There is a clear link between behavioral disposition and sports performance. The Brand’s brothers – unmatched intensity; Ben Askren - funky and individualistic; Scott Moore – fun, aggressive, and a risk taker. I never watched J Robinson wrestle but I can imagine what kind of style he had as a competitor-innovative and tough. So this makes me wonder what kind of wrestling style some of the most popular personalities might have. Here are some guesses. Barrack Obama- A savvy and fundamentally sound wrestler. Has no big move. Prone… more »

So I read an interesting blog post (http://gg121and2.blogspot.com/2009/03/tom-brands-in-twilight-zone.html). It’s a hypothetical situation about Iowa dropping their program. As the author mentions, two more D1 programs have been dropped with little uproar from the wrestling community. It seems that we all are close to a program that has been dropped or have a good friend who is. My former assistant coach at UVA, Brendan Buckley (Columbia Univ Head Coach) wrestled at Clemson until the program was dropped then transferred to Fresno, which has since been dropped. I coached at Slippery Rock University which has been dropped. My former teammate, Steve Garland,… more »

Come on… 32 qualifiers? The ACC only had 2 All American’s last season? It’s been a long time since the ACC had more than 30 NCAA qualifiers. When I qualified for my first NCAA tournament the conference had 27 bids, but in those days the conference also produced NCAA champions and multiple All-Americans: TJ Jaworsky, Sam Henson, Dave Land, Justin Harty, et al. Soon, the conference stopped producing as many All-Americans and basically hit a wall. However, the conference still had the leftover effects of the golden years and some national qualifiers didn’t deserve to go due to flaws in… more »

There’s an experiment going on in wrestling. It’s going on quietly in a corner of the world not particularly known for it’s wrestling. The hypothesis was that an exceptional high school wrestling coach can be an exceptional Division I collegiate coach. The first experiment begun at Old Dominion University 5 years ago. Steve Martin, the offspring of the legendary wrestling family in the Virginia Beach area, was the don of Great Bridge High School and led the program to the nation’s elite. The second experiment began coincidentally in the same state. Three years ago Virginia Tech hired Kevin Dresser of… more »

Innovation in Wrestling Innovation. If our sport is to thrive we need to innovate. Sure, I can hear some saying “Why change? We’ve done it this way for a long time and there is nothing wrong with that.” Consider this. We innovate on the mat. In matches we find ways to win even if it’s not a textbook move. In the bigger picture we innovate technique. The sport evolves. New techniques are developed. Ever learned technique from Zeke Jones? He innovates, adapts, and moves the sport forward. We talk about the life lessons we learn from wrestling… discipline, toughness, hard… more »