Kansas Wrestling Forums General Discussion High School Would you support a National Wrestling Endowment?

There has been a discussion going on the national form www.themat.com about a potential National College Wrestling Endowment to help preserve current college wrestling programs and starting new college wrestling programs.

One poster who originated the idea has asked others to seek out in their state wrestling forums the level of support. Here is what he is asking for and I will follow that up with another post on the level of support that you would be willing to give:

Dear Wrestling Community,


As many of you already know, Arizona State University recently dropped their men’s college wrestling program. Arizona State has a rich wrestling tradition, being one of only 10 teams to win NCAAs. Unfortunately, Arizona State is not an isolated incident. Due to Title IX and other financial considerations, men’s college wrestling programs are being dropped at an alarming rate. The opportunities for high school athletes to wrestle in college are rapidly diminishing, making it not too difficult to envision a time when college wrestling no longer exists.


So far, the efforts of the wrestling community have largely been reactionary, starting only after the decision has already been made to drop a program, when the probability of reinstatement is at its lowest. In the battle to save college wrestling and insure that opportunities exist for high school wrestlers to compete at the college level, the wrestling community has brought forth the idea for the establishment of a National College Wrestling Endowment to preserve and reinstate college wrestling programs.


The Endowment would be a tax-exempt entity administered by the NWCA or some other officially sanctioned wrestling governing body. The goal would be to raise $100 million over 5 years. The resulting endowment would then throw off approximately $5-6 million annually, which could be used to preserve and/or reinstate 3-4 programs per year. A National College Wrestling Endowment would allow us to get ahead of the curve, raising the necessary funds BEFORE programs are cut. It is much easier to save a program that a University is planning to cut than one that has already been cut.


In envisioning a National College Wrestling Endowment, the thought was that the Endowment would not be a vehicle to "buy" back wrestling programs. It would exist to provide financial support and liquidity to those programs where the alumni are making a dedicated effort to either start or reinstate a wrestling program. A perfect example is University of Oregon. They have raised $3-4 million and they believe they need $6 million to fully fund a program. If a National Endowment existed, it could, depending on resources, either contribute the remaining capital or provide loans to help the alumni efforts. This would get more programs up and running faster. Again, the National Endowment would serve to complement alumni efforts, only helping those programs whose alumni are willing to help themselves.


While local fundraising efforts focus solely on alumni with significant financial capabilities and on the localized wrestling community, I think a national effort would provide a perfect complement, as it would attract donors whose programs are not currently in trouble, but may be down the road. In addition, many of those in the wrestling community wrestled for schools whose programs no longer exist. They may be willing to contribute, but to which school's efforts? By having a National Endowment, they can effectively contribute to all of the efforts to save college wrestling.


The local high school wrestling communities, which stand to benefit the most through increased collegiate wrestling opportunities, can be a powerful force toward change. With 250,000+ participants across the nation, small contributions can add up to a large endowment. If each high school wrestler were to fund-raise a contribution of $100/year, the endowment would reach its goal of $100,000,000 in 4 years. Add to that all of the college wrestler and alumni donations, and the National College Wrestling Endowment would become an even more powerful force for preserving college wrestling.


At this point, we’re trying to get a sense of the support level in the wrestling community for such a National College Wrestling Endowment. I would appreciate any feedback, but I am particularly interested in learning whether or not you would be willing to contribute to such an Endowment. Again, no such Endowment exists at this time. At this point, we are only trying to gauge interest from the larger wrestling community. Thanks for your feedback.