I've been reading this thread for the last couple of days with some interest. I coached All American wrestler James Short in soccer in high school. James signed with Clemson University for wrestling, red shirted his first year and during the summer the wrestling program folded and he never wrestled a match for them. He later went to Purdue and now wrestles for the Army. That did not change the fact that a top 5 wrestling program in the country, who was making money, went under because of Title IX. The truth be known, wrestling has been hurt by this law and its interpretation and many more programs will be if the law is not changed. Regarding programs making money, football, etc. It is a myth that the majority of programs don't make money. I challenge that most any program which is successful, in any sport, any level, any sex, will have the potential to make money. There are examples of this all across the board, women’s basketball at a large number of schools like Tennessee, LA Tech, Emporia State, etc.., women's soccer at North Carolina, etc... There are obvious exceptions like rowing, fencing, but I challenge that on any level, if programs lost large amounts of money that the schools from High School through College would drop those programs.
I do know that we all have the right to advocate for change regarding unfair laws or laws that hurt or hinder a particular interest of ours. Since this is a WRESTLING forum, I would hope that most would advocate for change to the law because of the harm done to our sport and it's athletes. While most sports receive the benefit of revenues from Basketball and Football, it is possible to turn women’s volleyball into a profit maker. A part of the coaches’ job is not just winning but marketing or producing revenues. This can be done in a number of ways including, scheduling, community events etc… Simply put, help put butts in the stands, make the money then you will get more money. If you are winning and people aren't coming to watch or are not buying your product, then your product just simply isn't worth it. For those of us who have coached, we will know and admit that we are/were not just coaches but we also had to be business people in order to succeed. Coaches will also know that if you are that good and are producing revenues for the school, then you are in a great place because of your, "fair market value." In other words, shools that can pay more, will, because they will want to lift their own revenues and reputation up.
