baskinrobins

That’s all great information. It sounds like y’all are doing the right thing with AAU. It sounds much better than what I know about USA wrestling. That being said, I would still like to hear more about NUWAY. Maybe we could get a NUWAY rep on here to tell us their “factsâ€. I've only talked to one person about it, and it piqued my interest, to say the least. I know that many of the Midwestern states have switched to NUWAY in the last 10 years, and I hear that it is going really well. I do believe that NUWAY is a non-profit organization as well, not that it matters. It mostly just related to taxes. People that work for non-profit organizations still are allowed to be paid- and paid very well at that. As it relates to the level of wrestlers being produced: It’s good to hear that youth kids from TN are getting those opportunities that you speak of; it sounds like they are taking advantage of them as well. I’m always a little skeptical of using youth/high school national tournaments as a barometer of the states’ success. Every tournament in the country now proclaims to be a nation tournament. I love hearing that they are doing well at AAU national duals but if a state like Ohio has 7,000 NUWAY members, then how many of their best kids are actually going to AAU duals? That is not meant to be a knock on your results- it sounds like you keep improving, so that is impressive in and of itself. I see the same thing with NHSCA, Fargo, Flo, USA preseason/ postseason, FILA cadets, Dixie Nationals, Super 32… It is so watered down that college is the only true national tournament. It is the only way to objectively gauge results. We can talk about the strength of wrestling in TN compared to 15-20 years ago (the TSSAA state tournament does not look better to me), but we should really be trying to catch up with states like PA, OH, CA, and NJ. I trust that you think AAU will get us there. Maybe you are right, maybe the youth system is doing its job, and the middle/high school system is broken. I would just be happy if we started producing 4-5 NCAA qualifiers every year. As it relates to the money: From the NUWAY website: The founders of NUWAY have modeled this system after the Michigan Youth Wrestling Association (MYWA). MYWA is an organization that began 2001 with a mere 750 members and now has over 9,000 members. There are several factors that promoted growth in the state of Michigan. The first being is that a system of reinvesting or rewarding the membership was created. MYWA pays for entry fees for over 300 wrestlers each and every year to participate in national events. In addition, they supply each of the top 3 state place winners with custom national team singlets. Even more so, MYWA invests into protecting its college wrestling programs by providing financial support at many levels. Will it hurt to learn more about this? If it’s true that they are able to fund college programs, then maybe they have a business model that TN could adopt. Better college programs = more former college wrestlers coaching within the state = higher level of wrestling. Anyways, I’m most just sparking debate. Debate and competition lead to better products for our kids. My son has been done for a while, but maybe my grandchildren will get a benefit for all the work it sounds like you are putting in. Thanks for what you do.

Not pretending that I have the answers or the solution. A couple of items to consider: TN has as many NCAA qualifiers as Finland this year. We have not produced a NCAA All-American since 2008. In my opinion, TN has regressed since the early 2000s. (Leen,Marable,Keller,Simpson,Ward,Yost,..ect) Are we sure our youth system that is currently in place is actually doing its job? The primary goal should be to increase the number of kids that are exposed to the sport and develop lifelong wrestlers. A secondary goal is to provide the structure to turn kids into national caliber wrestlers. I don’t mean 1-2 kids. http://www.flowrestling.org/article/53013-ncaa-s-by-the-numbers#.WMBIqE0rKzc To quote ghouse: “ I really can't see any huge differences between NUWAY and AAU from a wrestling perspective… perhaps where the money goes but I haven't really dug into that.†This is a huge difference! To be clear, I am not part of TENWAY, AAU, or USA wrestling, but I was told that NUWAY state organizations return almost 100% of the profit to the state. A gentleman from a NUWAY state(MI) once told me that every college team in his state gets a 20k check at the end of the year from NUWAY. They even used NUWAY money to start two new college teams. The money is used to support out-of-state travel for middle and HS teams. Is it true? I don’t know, but I think it would be worth looking into. I believe that USA wrestling takes money from youth tournaments around the country and uses it to fund college regional training centers. Why should the Ohio State RTC get money from TN youth tournaments? I think TN should take the Trump approach and worry about its kids first. I think we all have a lot to learn before we dismiss a new organization. Jimmy