New Wrestling Club

[WrestleSBA]

I can appreciate Chattanooga's desire for strong kids clubs.

 

I would like to see Chattanooga develop  middle school league(s) that run parallel to the high school season.  I think it is imperative to the long term success of wrestling in that area.

 

Nashville continues to explode in this area.  I can envision a Mid State championship within two or three years encompassing over 60 middle school programs.  The middle school programs are driving the high schools to offer programs.

 

I have no idea where Memphis or Knoxville is within this arena.  Is it purely USAW, AAU, and FCI?  Or maybe things are happening there I am not aware of.

 

I think it would be great to see the top four in each weight class from each of four regions of the state meet for a Middle School State Championships around...say...2009.

 

Any other thoughts?

 

reftn

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I can try and speak for the goings-on down here in Memphis. There are several kids and middle school programs that many of the HS try and run. All of these teams are USAW sanctioned clubs. The schools do not recognize them as an official MS sport so that is about our only recourse.

 

As far as competitions go we currently wrestle a tournament pretty much every weekend from the beginning of the HS season until Christmas, but unfortunately after that things tend to die off. Many of our teams are still practicing and are still able to compete because of the excellent schedule TWF has put together. Of course it requires some travel to Nashville, Murfressboro, Tullahoma, etc. but we do get a couple here in Memphis too. These will be great for the future success of our teams since we are seeing more competition from other parts of the state.

 

I too would very much like to see us start running more dual matches during the week as I think it would give the kids a better fell for what being a team is and get them adjusted for HS more quickly. That was part of the fun for me in wrestling... wrestling for my team during the week and getting to compete in an individual tournament on most weekends. I think there is no way the rest of the state will be able to compete with the guys in Nashville if we all don't start to organize a dual season for our MS kids.

Edited February 1, 2005 by WrestleSBA

[SilentJohn]

I dont know anything about the Adams/Register feud.  Got a Reader's Digest version?

 

Clarksville struggled to get the middle school administrations to allow middle school wrestling.  But it has been done.  Somehow it seems unfair to give those schools kids that have middle school experience (j/k). 

 

I am surprised the middle school parents in Chattanooga arent raising cain about that.

 

reftn

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Well, it's pretty complicated, but I'll give it a shot. Basically, on one side you have Curtis Adams, county commissioner and head of the county's education committee, which sets the budget for the school board. The other side is the board of education, headed by Sup. Jesse Register.

 

In a nutshell, Adams hates Register. He publically calls for him to resign about once a month, it seems. I don't know where that bad blood comes from but it's real.

 

Last summer we had a budget standoff between the commission and the board. The board declared that if they didnt get x amount of increase, it would be catastrophic for the schools. This meant one thing, a property tax increase. The county commission voted on a 50 cent or so increase and turned it down. A lot of people felt like the board was grandstanding and the commission called their bluff. In any event, they board announced there would be heavy cuts, and Middle School Athletics was one of them.

 

Now, it takes somewhere between 500,000 --700,000 to fully fund the whole Middle Sports program. A group of coaches got together about 4 weeks before school and came up with a plan to try to raise the money themselves. Chattem Inc. pledged to match what they raised up to 250,000, so that was a big boost. SO you have a group of coaches and parents and athletes doing everything they can to raise the money, including standing by the road with buckets by busy intersections. (thus, the panhandling comment).

 

In a way it was nice to see a grass-roots effort come together, but it's just crazy that it had to come to that. And another thing is that like most fund-raisers, you end up with a few people doing most of the work. The coaches from schools out in the county did most of the work. Very few, if any of the inner-city coaches ever bothered to even show up for the meetings. These coaches from Soddy, Hixson, Red Bank, etc, were busting their #### basically so that the inner-city schools could have sports, and the inner-city coaches couldn't even be bothered to help out. My wife, who coaches at Hixson, and other coaches took this as a real slap in the face, since the county schools all have booster clubs, and probally could have come up with the money to support their own programs.

 

Basically, the consensus among the coaches is that this was a one-time deal. Either the board/commission funds sports next year or they don't. Either way, the coaches aren't going to bail them out again. They will have to deal with the reprecussions of their decisions (there's a novel idea).

 

So far the budget talk from both sides as they get ready for the summer budget process is a repeat of last year all over again.. Neither side wants to budge.

So unfortnuately, I don't see much of a future for Middle School Sports in Hamilton County.

 

I'm from here, spent my twenties in Middle TN, and moved back a few years ago to take over the family business. If it weren't for that, I'd be back in Middle TN in a heartbeat, because I'm embarrassed that this is how my hometown is run.

 

Well REf, that's it in a nutshell, imo. Sorry about any misspelled words or grammar problems. To my brain, it's still early.

[CHSCOACH]

I dont know anything about the Adams/Register feud.  Got a Reader's Digest version?

 

Clarksville struggled to get the middle school administrations to allow middle school wrestling.  But it has been done.  Somehow it seems unfair to give those schools kids that have middle school experience (j/k). 

 

I am surprised the middle school parents in Chattanooga arent raising cain about that.

 

reftn

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The middle school administration in Clarksville did not allow wrestling. They will allow basketball, but no other sports. CHS was able to find a loop hole with the help of the Middle school league in Nashville. But we are still trying.

[ridingtime]

This went from wrestling club to school board! I just want to simply clear up some concerns I have heard from some people.

 

I am not starting this club to get rich. I could care less about making money. I will survive financially. I am also not trying to be a kids high school or middle school coach. I am simply wanting to do something in wrestling that is feasible for me at this time in my life.

 

This is how it will work in a nutshell. Every athlete will be required to be a USA wrestling member. This is for insurance purposes. For a card that is valid for any USA tournament it is $35. I will charge on top of that $65 dollars to each student. Any kid who attends every practice will receive all $65 dollars back. Any other profit will be put in an account to be used to send kids that are in the club to Christian camps, wrestling camps, etc.

 

Every student will receive a "highercallingwrestlingclub" shirt and a Bible. That will eat up some of the money brought in. If I lose money, Oh well! If we make some to help athletes out, even better. It seems like a win, win situation! Good luck in the post-season.

 

If you have questions please feel free to contact me at (423) 284-8881.

 

Heath Eslinger

[SilentJohn]

Good luck with the club.

 

Sorry if the thread got hi-jacked a bit.

 

 

 

REf by all means start a new thread if you want to talk more ....

 

 

 

back to work now..

[mjgIII]

Every student will receive a "highercallingwrestlingclub"  shirt and a Bible.  That will eat up some of the money brought in.  If I lose money, Oh well!  If we make some to help athletes out, even better.  It seems like a win, win situation!  Good luck in the post-season.

 

If you have questions please feel free to contact me at (423) 284-8881. 

 

Heath Eslinger

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Are you accepting donations and, if so, where can they be sent?

[reftn]

Coach Eslinger

 

My fault on the thread direction.

 

Where will you hold practices?

 

reftn

[ridingtime]

I am still trying to solidify where practices will be held, but it will more than likely be in the Cleveland area.

 

Thanks for the support and yes we will accept donations once our account is set up. I will let you know more information as those things happen.

 

Thanks,

Heath Eslinger

[ridingtime]

A facility has been secured for the wrestling club. It will be at the First Baptist Church Family Life Center in Cleveland. Practices will begin Tuesday March 15th. Registration will begin at 5:00 p.m. and pracitce will start at 6. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Heath Eslinger at (423) 284-8881. This is going to be a training club that focuses on fundamentals of wrestling and hard training. It will be a great chance to get ahead in the off season by only practicing two days a week. Hope to see you there!

 

Thanks,

Heath

[outside_singles103]

A facility has been secured for the wrestling club.  It will be at the First Baptist Church Family Life Center in Cleveland.  Practices will begin Tuesday March 15th.  Registration will begin at 5:00 p.m. and pracitce will start at 6.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact Heath Eslinger at (423) 284-8881.  This is going to be a training club that focuses on fundamentals of wrestling and hard training.  It will be a great chance to get ahead in the off season by only practicing two days a week.  Hope to see you there!

 

Thanks,

Heath

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Two days a week. Do you know now which two days?