1- The National coaches put together a staff, a pool of work out partners and support personnel i.e. establish good communication with the staff, wrestler and administration; training plan to fit the Olympic schedule, researching, evaluating the athlete and the plan. Media as a tool to promote and motivate the wrestler, staff;
Seek advice from resource people, study the logistics, environment, opponents etc. Create a positive working relationship that would carry over to the athletes and coaches. Study the rules with FILA. Officials have some training sessions with an official present to evaluate special situations. I would tape some of our training sessions, edge of the mat tactics, special holds, etc. Assist with coaches meetings to evaluate the work outs and individuals. Weight control weigh ins, pulse checks; educate the athlete about protocol how to interview and handle the media and prepare the athlete for the unexpected. Condition him physically and mentally to be the best that he can be. This can only be done by being organized during the camp creating a positive environment, making sure the staff is totally committed.

2- Establish communication with the wrestler on a personal basis finding out as much as possible about his training and personal life. Create a positive working relationship to help him stay focused on his goal. I would collect as much information to help him stay focused on his goal. I would collect information on any special needs or concerns they might have. I would design some special holds and a training program based on video analysis. Provide the athlete with as much information as possible about the training plan, the environment, rule changes, tactics and competitors.

3- Find the people closest to the athlete to try to get additional information and support that might assist in working relationship. I would educate myself about the site of competition, the transportation, the food and weight cutting facilities, equipment and the competition schedule, etc.

4- The athlete needs to be briefed on the processing schedule and security. Wrestlers can not get distracted by the gamour of the games (he has to be kept
Focused i.e. he can't be worried about shopping, wives, parents, girlfriends, etc.)
This s going to be a big part of winning- keeping the wrestler focused on the mission!


5- I would do everything in my power to see the mission through. Most important I believe we can get the job done!

I was just at the NCAA Championships and had a chance to visit with Dave Bennett. He had just returned from India and I had just recently returned from an international event held in Cuba. We couldn’t help but begin to compare our collegiate wrestling rules with the current international rules for freestyle wrestling. Because of the differences, it is a huge task for our athletes to make the adjustment between the styles after four to five years of competing in the collegiate arena. We believe there are a few changes we could make that would not only make competition more exciting at the college level, but would also make the transition easier and make us more competitive internationally than we currently are.
The first is to institute an out of bounds rule. College wrestlers today spend more time at the edge of the mat than any other area of it. They have learned to use the edge of the mat to avoid having to wrestle their way out of trouble. They back out of bounds continually and seem to get away with it numerous times before stalling is called, and then it is usually a token call during the last few seconds. If there were a penalty for going off the mat as there is in freestyle, they would quickly learn to find the center of the mat and to continue to wrestle through the situation.
Second, if there were a point for any back exposure as there is in freestyle wrestling we would see less of just hanging on to a leg while on ones back to avoid a takedown and to stalemate the situation. We currently have a two-point and a three-point nearfall for a two second and three second count respectively, why not just add a one-point exposure.
These two changes alone would have a huge impact on how long it takes our college athletes, who decide to go on to an international career, to become competitive. In addition, these changes are simple enough that even those high school and college coaches who have never been involves with freestyle wrestling would be able to adjust their coaching to them.

Bobby Douglas

Evaluation of Results


Wrestling is in transition. We need to adjust a technical and tactical plan to suit the new rules. The fact still remains that our takedowns are way down. Our set-ups are non existent. In the last five Worlds we have less than a dozen set-ups.
You can't win matches with out takedowns and you can't get takedowns with out set-ups.

I want to say this to the AD's that drop wrestling programs or de-emphasize their programs. You cheated a lot of kids like me out of an education and for that you should be ashamed. Dave Adams dropped the program at San Jose resulting in a spike in gang recruitment. The same thing happened in LA at UCLA, dropped, gang spike! Washington and UCSB, gang and crime spike. Drop out rates increased, kids health suffered. Discipline waned and we let the bullies run amuck. "Thats What the Caged Bird Sings" That's why I cry everytime a program is dropped. I am at the end of my fight, I am in no position to tell you what wrestling needs. You my fellow teammates, coaches, parents and families have to stand up for wrestling or we'll lose it at the university level. What can we do? We can do what Gymnastics did, they changed their rules and caught up with the rest of the world. So what? Fo me as a black coach I had to dispel the racist rumors about me; wanting to win the NCAA title with an all black team. I was asked that question by a parent of an Ohio State Champion that I was recruiting in the early 90's. I had to fight that rumor all my coaching career. I did win the NCAA's and I have recruited the most minorities and assistants in the country. I am proud of that, diversity is the trade mark of wrestling.

Dear Mr. Douglas:

My older brother was a competitor at the '68 Olympic Trials, I believe he took tenth ( in your weight class). Almost every time I see him I ask him to recount the events that took place during that match. He told me that during weigh-ins he was standing in line and he turned around for a minute and saw a man that he described as having a body like a "Greek God."
He said this man had arms twice the size of his and his hands were not only big but they seemed to hang down to his knees. The chest on this person he described as enormous. The only thing that ran through his mind was, Oh God please don't let me have to wrestle him. He told me that he actually wanted to wrestle Dan Gable, he thought he could beat him and still feels that way. You see my brother was the JC state champ from California, personally I think he was the greatest ever. Anyway, the man he saw behind him in line was of course you.

He told me of the match between you and Mr. Gable, how you took him down at will and the only point he scored was when you let him go. My brother described the match as though you were wrestling against somebody in high school, as we all know, Dan Gable was the defending undeafeated division 1 NCAA champ. I have heard this story in detail so many times I swear I was there. He also told me how Sam Huff pinned Dan Gable. He said he took him down with a firemans and and took Gable to his back, the first time he had been there, to his credit Gable got away. My brother said he could almost read Huff's mind, it if he said , "well that worked pretty good, lets try it again." so he did. He took him down with another fireman's, put him on his back, pinned him and that was it. Then everyone was waiting for the match of the tournament, or for that matter the match of of all time, you and Huff. But that didn't materialize, you blew through Huff, I believe he said 9-1. I could be wrong about the score of course, but in any event he said you made it look easy. I'm not try8ing to discredit Dan Gable in any way. He came back in 72 and did not give up a point in the Olympics, plus he is one of the all time great coaches. I just get so tired when I hear someone talking about Dan Gable being the greatest of all time. When I do hear people talk about Dan Gable being the greatest wrestler of all time and how he only lost once in his career, I tell them of the time when Mr. Gable not only lost once in his career, I tell them of the time when Mr. Gable not only lost twice in one day, he got spanked.
I just want you to know that just as it's impossible to come up with a consensus all time greatest quarterback or pitcher, there is no greatest wrestler, however, if they ever do vote for one, you will most certainly get my vote.

Sincerely,
Robert Dean

In the last 15 seconds of the match, Gable tried to go upper body. I threw him with a headlock which would have been a five point move or a touch fall.

After spending three days in Colorad Springs exploring the best way forward for the American wrestling program, I find myself looking back at how we got to this point. At the same time I've been trying to figure out what is the best road map. I'm totally convinced that the Boris plan used by the Russians and the other top republics is the best model. The question is will it work for America? My answer is yes, it will work for America but it needs to be modified to compensate for American folk style wrestling. If we changed some of our folk style and collgiate rules we would have a much better chance of giving our wrestlers and equal chance for their Olympic dreams. I'm sorry that I am helpless to do more and I apologize for not being able to convince the rules committee that a change needed to be made to help our Olympic efforts.
Art Martori and the Sunkist organization has played a major role in the American wrestling program. Sunkist was able to keep our best wrestlers wrestling through multiple Olympics.
Our current wrestlers are now wrestling one cycle and their gone. We need to make wrestling more attractive to keep our best wrestlers around.

The new regional Training Centers are a step in the right direction for USA Wrestling. The National Hall of Fames Ohio chapter addition brings much needed publicity to Ohio and wrestling. The USOC and USA Wrestlings aggressive pursuit of diversity paved the way in Ohio for one of the first women to receive the Toccara Montgomery Women of the Year award. With the induction of Harry Houska, Jim Humphries, Jim Jordan, Dustin Carter, Richard Bonacci, Doc Loffler, Chris Ford and George Kovalick, my coach, makes Ohio the most prestigious Hall of Fame in America.

Congratulations LeeRoy Smith, Rich Bender, the Diversity committee and the inductees.

The new date is September 19, 20010 in Columbus, Ohio.

Location to be announced at a later date.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.- USA Wrestling’s newly formed Diversity Committee hosted a historic in-person meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn – Airport on Thursday.

The committee, chaired by Olympic athlete and coach Bobby Douglas, worked on a number of projects concerning diversity initiatives within USA Wrestling and the sport of wrestling. It was the first in-person meeting of this committee, which has had previous conference calls in February and March.

“I am very excited to be part of this important committee. I am more excited about the work we will be doing,” said Douglas. “USA Wrestling, one of America’s best secrets, will lead the way to a more diverse wrestling community.”

Among the committee’s actions on Thursday was the creation of a USA Wrestling Diversity Mission Statement, a mission statement for the Diversity Committee and a set of target objectives for the committee.

These statements will be presented to the appropriate USA Wrestling constituent groups for review and comment, after which they will be presented to the USA Wrestling Executive Committee for approval.

The committee heard a presentation by Eric Parthen, the Director of NGB Organizational Development for the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC). Parthen presented materials from an extensive report entitled New Models of Diversity Value: Leveraging Diversity for NGB Competitive Advantage, which was prepared for the USOC by Virtcom Consulting. Parthen also provided information on diversity projects from other National Governing Bodies from the Olympic family, and actively participated in the committee’s work sessions.

“I want to thank USA Wrestling and its Diversity Committee for the leadership it has taken,” said Parthen. “I am impressed by the accomplishments already made and am encouraged about the future achievements of the committee’s work.”

The committee conducted an extensive SWOT analysis of diversity within USA Wrestling and the sport of wrestling, documenting its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This work will be used to help prioritize the committee’s efforts and develop specific programs and initiatives to achieve its mission.

The committee itself is very diverse in its makeup, and includes athletes, coaches and leaders who have been trailblazers in eliminating barriers within wrestling and providing opportunities for all Americans to participate in the sport.

“I am incredibly proud of our organization and its commitment to affect change in diversity,” said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender. “We are very fortunate to have leaders involved on this committee that will insure success in our objective to increase our diversity at all levels.”

The Diversity Committee will provide the wrestling community with updates on its work, and encourages everybody within wrestling who has information and ideas concerning diversity to share it with the group.

USA WRESTLING DIVERSITY COMMITTEE
Bobby Douglas, Ames, Iowa (Chairperson)
Clarissa Chun, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Terry Fike, Lock Haven, Pa.
William Grant, Inverness, Fla.
Leigh Jaynes, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Lloyd Keaser, Ashburn, Va.
Kim Martori-Wickey, Phoenix, Ariz.
Sara McMann, Limestone, S.C.
William Rosado, Las Vegas, Nev.

Staff liaison - Rich Bender, USA Wrestling Executive Director
Staff support- Gary Abbott and Haley Scherr

I would like to congratulate the state of Ohio on creating the Ohio chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. The initial induction will be July 11, 2010 in Columbus, Ohio. Bill Lamb, former head coach of North Carolina University will organize the event. This is a big step toward further promotion and recognition for the sport of wrestling within Ohio which a rich tradition that all should take pride in. Nominations include, Lifetime Service to Wrestling, Outstanding American and Medal of Courage. It is great to see Ohio step up and become an active chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Question: Why were you so successful as a coach?

I started recruiting kids when they were in grade school. The number one reason for my success was the type of wrestlers I recruited and the drilling system I used. The technical component came from Oklahoma State; the mat technique came from George Kovalick, my high school coach, and Harold Nichols. The key component was the drill routine. I was taught to drill against pressure in order to get the real feel for the holds and to drill the hold until you could execute full speed with resistance. This meant repetitions and your coach has to make you correct mistakes as they happen. This type of drilling is tedious and requires many many reps. I used the edge of the mat to increase the pressure and to help develop scrambling ability. One main problem was to make the wrestler keep a good stance and good head position. I see a lot of basic technical mistakes at the collegiate and high school level because coaches allow their wrestlers to make mistakes while they are drilling and don’t correct them on the spot... Most wrestlers do half. i.e. drilling a leg attack and not finishing the drill with a pin hold. Another mistake is the hand position. Most wrestlers start their takedown drill by reaching for their partners head or shoulders. Wrestlers remember, in order to finish right you have to start right. Coaches don’t force their wrestlers to follow the basic rules on the tie up.

1) Head position before hand position
2)
3)
4)

(If you drill it wrong you’ll do it wrong and it won’t work against a good wrestler.)

Answers for 2, 3, and 4, will be in the next lesson.

The drilling will develop the process known as flow or muscle memory. This is the action that is developed by repetition. What happens is you automatically react or attack without thought because you have rehearsed the step so many times that you don’t have to think, your body moves instinctively.

More schools have to follow Iowa’s lead. They use Gable as a lightning rod for promotion, recruiting and club activities. The fact that he’s one of the announcers for Iowa Public TV wrestling show helps the Iowa wrestling program

The NWCA helps the Iowa program by using Gable as a spokesperson. All these things help the Iowa program. The rest of the nation needs to follow suit. The Iowa wrestling system helps also because it’s exciting. Their style of wrestling keeps their opponent in retreat making it difficult to attack when you’re being pushed backwards. Good system; its simple and easy to teach.

It’s not hard to defeat if you’re in shape and have the right athletes.

Congratulations to the Brands brothers and their staff. WIN magazine is a great tool for recruiting also it helps them corner the in state market.

Leadership is the quality that is responsible for people following an individual, having faith in his judgment and abilities and being willing to work under his direction. A leader is someone who can accomplish something others would not attempt. Not everyone can hold an office such as President or Vice President, yet all can develop the qualities of good leadership.

Command the respect of others wherever you are, whatever you do.

Study yourself. Discover your strong points and your weak points. Study the personal qualities of effective coaching. Endeavor to develop the qualities that will win the confidence of others, such as sound judgment, open-mindedness, freedom from prejudice, coolness in trying situations, sincerity, and honesty.

When a wrestler deserves credit for achievement-compliment him. Admit mistakes and avoid excuses. Be firm when ideals, principles or goals are at stake, but try not to give offense. Refrain from hurting others' feelings unnecessarily. Have facts before you reach a conclusion. Develop good judgment. Plan to accomplish goals. Keep out of the limelight. The more difficult the obstacle, the stronger one becomes after hurdling it.

Article on John Havlicek and Bobby Douglas
By Dave Bloomquist.

Although they lived only a half-mile from each other, they lived their lives at different ends of the spectrum. Once grew up in a modest home and the other one grew up in a shanty with no modern conveniences. They were as different as night and day except for one common bond, a grass field with white lines and numbers.

When you think of Havlicek or “Hondo” basketball immediately come to m mind. He was all-state at Bridgeport High School. All-American at Ohio State, a 13 time all-star with the Boston Celtics and a member of the NBA Hall of Fame. What you may not know is how many colleges recruited him for skills on the football field, Pitt, WVU, Miami, Florida, Florida State, Purdue, all the major football powers of the time wanted “Hondo”, but none as passionately as the Ohio State Buckeyes and legendary coach, Woody Hayes.

Hayes fell in love with the 6-5, 210 pounder’s quick feet and dynamic arm, one so rare that most quarterbacks in the NFL today would be hard pressed to match in terms of velocity and distance. “I was working our with the basketball team one time and we were walking through Ohio Stadium when I noticed a football lying on the ground,” says Havlicek in an interview from his home on Martha’s Vineyard. “So I picked it up and threw it to a teammate 80 yards away.” And to think he was an end his first two years at Bridgeport.

That changed the day former coach Gene Remenar saw Havlicek throw. The coach made the prodigal son a quarterback his junior year of 1956 and “Big John” didn’t disappoint. With a mediocre supporting cast competing against larger powerhouses like Martins Ferry and St. Clairsville, Havlicek led the Bulldogs to a 9-8-1 record over two s4asons. “He was just an awesome athlete,” says Art Hehr, a 150 pound guard “we had the utmost confidence in him. “Belmont County Commissioner Gordie Longshaw recalls the image of “Hondo” in the pocket. “He would stay in the pocket and take hit after hit but wouldn’t go down. John had huge hands and would use them like a lineman to just push defenders off him.

Havlicek says he never reached his full potential as a football player, but to anyone who saw him in the Bulldogs 19-14 upset win of Martins Ferry in 1956, that assessment is debatable. It was Bridgeport’s first win over the Purple Riders in the game’s 37 year history and Havlicek scored all 19 points. “We put in the single wing for that game and they were unprepared for it,” says Havlicek. “And I would run and pass out of it. That was the first time the game was ever played at Bridgeport and the crowd was so big they had to import stands to Perkins Field. After the win old men were crying and the fans even tore down the goalposts. It was just incredible. Beating Martins Ferry was the first big highlight of my athletic career and one of the top sports memories of my life.” Many of his friends, 50 years later, remember the scene vividly.

“The town went crazy when we beat Martins Ferry,” says Joe Niekro, a childhood friend who went on to win 221 games in the Major Leagues. “John was the toast of the town. He was such a smart quarterback and good passer. What a lot of people don’t read remember is he played both ways back then also.”

Art Hehr says, “The next day they gave us the day off from school. We had a parade with fire trucks and everything. We even got free haircuts at Bob Coyne’s Barbershop.” Havlicek passed 13 times for 200 yards that day to the likes of Dave Ledinvka, Buckey Shidell, Bill Laipple and Bob Nowakowski. The day the Bulldogs beat the Riders in 1956 elevated John Havlicek to cult status in Bridgeport, and it burned an indelible image in the mind of a freshman standing on the sidelines. That name –Bobby Douglas.

When you think Bobby Douglas wrestling immediately comes to mind. The 1961 Bridgeport graduate was the first black state champion in Ohio and NAIA National Champion at West Liberty State College, a two-time Olympic Wrestler, eight-time Olympic Wrestling coach, first black Division 1 wrestling coach and former coach at Iowa State University. What you might not realize is Douglas was also an all-state football player who displayed blazing speed at tailback and 140 pounds of sheer dynamite as a hitter in the secondary. “He was all out buddy,” says Ken Janiszewski, a former teammate of Douglas’ on the baseball team. “He would whack you with everything he had and this got him knocked out a couple times. I saw one game where Bobby got knocked out cold twice on punt returns because he would never signal for a fair catch and people would just nail him.” Weighing in at 140 pounds his senior year of 1961, Douglas was named captain of George Kovalick’s Bulldogs. Offensively, “Fluke” as he was known by everyone, would use his speed to crank out long runs and his tenacity to try and put you in the cemetery, not the hospital. “He would try to break you in half,” says Denny Bowman, a star in his own right on that 61 team. “He was a hitter who never backed down from a helmet on helmet collision.”

The Bulldogs went 8-1-1 in Douglas’ senior year, the biggest win coming against a much larger St. Clairsville team. In an interview from his home in Iowa, Douglas talks about the game as if it’s 1961 all over again, the intensity of his voice deepening when talking of the first play from scrimmage. “That first play was Belly 28. I cut it inside and then went right up the middle. I juked Tommy Starks and I was gone!” “Fluke” would finish the game with over 200 all purpose yards. On the season, the 5-6 stick of dynamite would rush for over 1,000 yards and intercept 6 passes from his safety position, earning All-State honors along the way. Teammates say his speed, which was just as lethal left or right as it was straight ahead and his toughness were unequaled around the valley. “High school football for me was a great experience,” says Douglas. “We worked hard, suffered and cried together. We developed a camaraderie that’s indescribable. In wrestling you’re more centered on yourself, but football was about trust and teamwork, and that’s something to be admired.”

Douglas’ and Havlicek’s gridiron careers didn’t end at the high school level. Douglas followed George Kovalick to West Liberty State College where Bobby was a jack-of-all-trades offensively for two seasons before concentrating solely on wrestling. Havlicek meanwhile never played at Ohio State much to the chagrin of Woody Hayes who once told reporters the best quarter back in the Big Ten is playing basketball. Obviously the Cleveland Browns believed Hayes, because they drafted Havlicek and gave him a Chevy convertible as a signing bonus. He would end up making it all the way to the final cut with the Browns, even though he hadn’t played organized football for nearly five years.

So while their accomplishments in other sports may have overshadowed their gridiron careers, they did not diminish the memories. Memories of two athletes so different yet so alike once they stepped on green grass with the white stripes at Perkins Field. They were men amongst boys on that field and both agree the lessons learned playing high school football helped each attain a level of success in their chosen professions rarely seen in the history of sport.

Here is an exert from my autobiography that I think we can all relate to as wrestlers.

Excerpts from THE STRUGGLE IS THE GLORY the autobiography of Bobby Douglas

"The Brotherhood of Wrestling".

First, let me begin by relating what, for many wrestlers, is a common experience.

You enter a public place – say a mall, or a seven-eleven wearing something that identifies you as a wrestling partisan. Maybe it’s your letterman’s jacket or perhaps a souvenir t-shirt from some wrestling tourney. Soon, a complete stranger come up to you and asks the questions, “Hey did you wrestle?” When you reply, “Why yes,” this (up to now) stranger begins relating his own wrestling experiences. This man may have wrestled 30 or more years earlier, but the memories are still so fresh in his mind that he relates to them as if they were yesterday.

Like old Marines reliving boot camp, wrestlers connect in a secret brotherhood – in a way that outsiders cannot understand.

Wrestlers and former wrestlers of all ages share a bond. The shared sacrifice of the most demanding of all sports has left an indelible imprint on their person that time cannot erase. The bond that wrestling and wrestlers share transcends not only age, but race, creed and social status.

Sports have always served to break down social barriers. Naturally, wrestling, because of its personal nature, hastens that process. In an increasingly fragmented society when people are divided up by age and race, it is both refreshing and enlightening to visit the local wrestling programs.

At the local club level, kids from the country, inner city, and suburbs all strive to reach a common goal. The members from these teams represent a true cross-section of present day America across race across barriers, a true microcosm of a rainbow society.

The wrestlers also bring their parents, loved ones and supportive fans together across these lines. As these wrestling boosters cheer their kids on and work collectively to support their wrestlers efforts, ancient lies and invisible barriers are quietly crushed under the weight of wrestling’s brutal truth and honesty.

The wrestling code is simple; Discipline and hard work vs. regret. In wrestling a young man soon recognizes the direct correlation between hard work and success. Wrestling is a sport stripped of pretenses. At the end of the match (win or lose), you stand there and receive your reward or disappointment.

Those would be deceivers are revealed by the harsh light of competition. Imposters soon blanch. Only the truly faithful, the hearty, the ones with true grit survive.

For many youths wrestling represents the first tentative step towards achievement of manhood. For the first time in their lives they begin to understand the meaning of fidelity to an organization or team committed to ones self and others.
Wrestling demands much from its participants. Our sport is uncompromising in that respect. Perhaps that is why so many fathers continue to be active and stay involved in wrestling. They are, maybe, trying to install in their sons the first lessons of manhood. As a man ages, he enters the complex world we live in. The line between right and wrong can at times be blurred. The sharp colors and hues of boyhood can turn gray. The idealist issues of youth begin to fade. A man can never recapture his youth, but the skills and lessons learned by our wrestlers last a lifetime, about being an understanding citizen, about life.

It is true you cannot recapture your youth but a man can perhaps recapture who he once was. Physical skills will diminish, that is a given, as no man can stop the relentless surge of time. Lessons, however, need not fade. Strip away the baggage of adulthood from any wrestler, or former wrestler, and you will still find the passionate soul of a leader, a warrior, a person with honor.

By Mark Munson