Wrestling needs a 12 step program

Published on July 8, 2010 by viratas   ·   No Comments

This is one of those articles that is half truth and half satire. As we have stated in previous opinion pieces we do not have all the answers. But we are all passionate about the sport. The staff at TOM has all sorts of cool ideas that for the most part are out of the box. Of course you would not expect much less if you understand our leadership.

Anyways, back on topic below we will lay out wrestling’s “12 step program”. After that we want to lay some challenges out to all you brave souls.

1. Our common welfare should come first; personal success depends upon the strength of our community.

- Ok although we somewhat cringe at the term “community” I think it makes sense here. We need to work together for the advancement of our sport. That does not mean we all need to get along or always agree. But what it does mean is that as a whole we can all work towards a common good. Later we will lay out a challenge to all of you as well as our leadership. By leadership we mean all those in positions of power that can influence change and growth.

2. For our group purpose there is not just one ultimate authority—our leaders are but trusted servants to its membership and constituents; they should not “Rule”.

- We have numerous leaders in our community, some we like, and some we don’t. To name a few we consider leaders: USA Wrestling, NCAA, NWCA, NuWay, and the AAU to name a few. They all have some kind of leadership role within our sport. These organizations all have one thing in common; they were created to serve a population. Now re-read #2 and we think you will understand where I am going with it.

3. The only requirement for acceptance in our community is a desire to succeed.

- We are not or at least should not be a picky group. One great thing about our sport is that is accepts all kinds, Short and Tall, Slim and Fat (Sorry Heavy’s), Smart and well not so smart, and on and on. But the one thing our community does demand is that you have a strong desire to work hard, be dedicated and posses a desire to succeed.

4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting the larger group (the athletes).

- We are not making the case that there should be one unified group; We think competition is healthy and helps grow the sport by providing multiple opportunities. But at times the can work against one another to the determent of the athlete.

5. Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the membership who needs their assistance.

- As stated earlier and what is becoming a theme here is that ultimately these groups exist to serve the population that empowers them in the first place. These groups need to keep this in mind and always work towards this purpose.

6. A group ought never endorse, finance, or lend their name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.

- This is a bit trickier, but the point is that their focus must and should remain on their mission. They need to be transparent to their membership and show that decisions are always made to benefit the greater good. Decisions should be addressed on how they help the majority of the membership vs. the minority.

7. Every group ought to be fully self-supporting, thus maximizing outside contributions.

- As we all know, especially in today’s economic reality, being efficient and lean is a must to maximize your budget. By assuring you are profitable on your core business, you can then have more flexibility with outside contributions that come in.

8. Leadership should remain forever non-professional, but at times may employ specialty workers.

- This does not mean we should not have leaders with high levels of professionalism, but rather have leaders who are not just leading for financial gain. This can cloud judgment and create resentment from the membership. Now with that said, contracting people or companies that specialize in certain things such as, Public Relations, Fundraising, and Marketing makes sense.

9. Service boards or committees should always be directly responsible to those they serve and should allow for membership to determine if change should occur on a somewhat frequent basis.

- Our boards need to be fully accountable to the membership they serve; their business should remain fully transparent and remain accessible by their members. All meetings should be open to membership; notices of meetings should be posted clearly and timely to allow membership time to decide if they would like to attend.

10. Groups should abstain from commenting on outside issues (Those issues outside their mission); hence they reduce their chances of being involved in public controversy.

- Focus should remain on their mission, which needs to be clearly stated to its membership. Engaging in discussions about other sports etc… only open the door to potential controversy. That applies specifically to comments made on behalf of the group and not comments made by individuals expressing personal views. It should always be made clear that the comments are a reflection of personal belief and not necessarily the beliefs of the group.

11. Our public relations policy needs to be based on attracting people and the overall promotion of the sport; we need always maintain strong relationships with the press, radio, and television and web mediums.

- This is an area where the groups working together could provide a great benefit to the sport as a whole. We could maximize dollars, increase a greater awareness and work towards growing the overall marketing share.

12. Anonymity of our leadership can serve as a foundation for growth, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

- This one is pretty clear. The group is not about the individuals, but rather about the membership and the growth of the membership.

Now with that said, what can be done? We would like to lay a challenge out to all of our leadership as well as the membership of these groups. Why not create some kind of working group or summit of our leadership. Have a place to discuss the issues and challenges our sport faces. We are not suggesting that everyone work together all the time, nor are we suggesting that anyone group stop what they are doing etc…

We are suggesting that we create a place where people respectfully discuss ideas, work together on things that makes sense and work towards a greater good. We at TOM would like to start a grassroots working group. Think of it as a wrestling “think tank”. Membership would be free, and all people who care about or sport would be welcome. We could work together to share ideas, expertise and publish these things for people to read and consider.

We are just throwing this out there as an idea. We welcome suggestions as well. If this is something you would be interested in let us know. Maybe it’s a crazy idea and maybe it would be pointless but why not try something? Like we said it is just in the idea phase, but we would be interested in hearing your thoughts and or ideas.

TheOpenMat Staff