Wisconsin Wrestling Coaches Association

Season Greetings and Happy Holidays to all. I hope the season has started out smoothly for yourself, your team, and your community. The 2006 Hall of Fame Banquet and Fall Clinic was a tremendous success again this year. Numbers in attendance at the clinic and banquet continue to grow with Wisconsin Wrestling enthusiasts. A huge thanks to all involved in helping put on one of the best clinics in the Midwest. More notably, to John Stockowitz and the Executive Board on their organization and commitment to make it one of the best. Thank you for your continued support of the Wisconsin Wrestling Coaches Association and wrestling in Wisconsin. 

Some news and notes of the weekend: 

• WWCA Golf Outing is on June 16, 2007 at Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne, WI. Mark your calendars today! 
• The WWCA yearbook has been expanded and now includes the history of the WWCA as well as the career and seasonal marks of Wisconsin wrestlers. A thank you to all that have been putting in the extra time to preserve our history of wrestling in the state. 
• Awards were presented to those that have reached milestones in their careers. Please remember to utilize our website to report those milestones right after the wrestling season is complete. 
• When We Were Young Productions is producing the WIAA State Individual and Team Tournaments again this year. 
• The Shockley Foundation and the Army National Guard again this year will highlight wrestling this year on your local AM radio stations. 
• Trackwrestling.com continues to host the organization of many tournaments through out the season and the state tournament series. The dual meet feature of the program is a huge asset in the promotion of the sport of wrestling in the state. The service is free, and it is an efficient way of communication with the media. 
• The Alumni Chapter has been on the move since it’s inception a few years ago. The chairman of the chapter and the person with the vision and creation of the chapter, Don Hartman, has stepped down. The WWCA was honored to have you part of our organization and thank you for your continued service to the sport of wrestling. Jim Stephenson of Waunakee will be the new chairperson of the chapter and we look forward to the continued vision of the preservation of the history of Wisconsin Wrestling. 
• The WWCA Executive Board moved to set up a fund in a kick off effort to establishing a permanent wrestling museum. The “Museum Fund” was established by a donation from the WWCA of $1000. This is huge step for the WWCA and the WWCA Alumni Chapter. 

WIAA communications and seasonal updates: 

• Concussions are an important topic at the national level. Be cautious and aware of your athletes’ conditions with head injuries. 
• Supplements and performance enhancing drugs are making a lot of noise obviously at the professional level. The national office is sending information out that is loud and clear that there is use of them at the high school level as well. Protect your athletes from the use of these substances. New transfer rules were established this past summer. Please take the time to read the new rules before it affects you, your team, and more importantly the athlete. 
• Last tournament season, the WIAA was not impressed with the handling of blood during a match. Make sure you do a few things to sure the proper care of blood during a match. Use gloves, use paper towels, put blood contaminated materials in a proper place, and empty those containers when full. If you ever been to a blood born pathogen training session, it is very simple to ensure the safety of yourself and the athlete. 
• The 7% Online program was utilized this past fall with the thoughts of the efficiency of coach’s use. With over 1000 transactions being processed, 80% were done correctly. The over 200 that needed to be corrected, were more time consuming than the process that we used prior to the program. Please be accurate in the data entry of the information into the program. 
• Remember there will be a change in the time schedule to the state individual tournament. Please plan accordingly. 

Happy Holidays!