Info from coaches, coaches' wives, and community members.

I've been able to talk to several people from the community that were involved with wrestling during the last go around and it's been fairly informative.  I have not had a chance to speak with the last head coach (though I talked to his wife quite a bit) because he's working out of town right now, but I have spoken to the assistant coach, and his wife (a former teacher in the local high school) as well as the coach's wife I mentioned above.

I have not yet spoken to the school administration.  I want to make that initial contact in person and after I've done a bit more leg work and have a detailed plan with some goals to take to them.  I want them to realize that I'm committed to seeing this through for the long haul and that I'm willing to work with them in a professional manner.  I want them to take me serious and to know that I am serious.

So here's what I have learned from speaking to others:

• They had roughly 70 kids showing up every week for kids club wrestling (that includes two towns from a neighboring county)
• There was never a junior high program to speak of.
• There is an "old" mat somewhere that we may be able to use.
• Their nice new competition mat (7 strip) is in Crook County with the Smith Rock wrestling club, except for one strip that cheerleaders are using for practice.
• Once the kids program was cut the high school program dwindled and died (duh).
• There were two coaches that did it all (with the help of their wives, one of them coached a kids club on her own) and when they couldn't find someone to take over the kids program they let it die.
• The administration cut the program and the last coach didn't leave on very good terms with the current administration.
• Surprise, surprise, surprise, money will be a serious issue.  Budgets are tight and getting tighter.  If we want to spend any money then we'll need to raise it ourselves.

I need to get in touch with some neighboring clubs still and eventually make a trip over to visit with the school administration.  I've been working on creating some goals for the program.  I'm a big goal person and if I have something to work towards and a definite end point then I'll push myself a lot harder to reach it.  I think that I've got the goals set but I'm a little hesitant to share them with anyone because half the time I think they are delusions of grandeur and the rest of the time I don't think they're lofty enough.  Maybe I'll grow a pair and post them tomorrow, maybe I'll find another excuse and think of something better to write about.

If you've ever been in my shoes and started a program let me know I'd love to pick your brain if you don't mind, and feel free to offer up any advice.

Full disclosure.

In an effort to be completely honest with you there are some things that I need to tell you all about my history with Sherman County (yes that is where we would be moving to).  It's not as though I've never been to the area or don't know anyone there.  In fact I'm very familiar with that area.  I was born in The Dalles hospital and lived in Grass Valley when I was first born.  I have an aunt and uncle that live outside of Kent where they raised both my cousins, my dad even went to Sherman high school where he was a baseball and basketball (gasp) star.  My wife graduated from high school there and her family still lives in Sherman county.  

So now that everything is out in the open I'll move on to more wrestling news.  I've talked to the assistant coach, his wife and the last head coach's wife as well.  When I can get a hold of the last head coach I'll let everyone know what happened to the last program.

Where do I begin?

The position is officially closed--they're not taking any more applications.  The hiring committee should have all the resumes by this Friday and I'm sure that interviews will follow soon after.  On a side note why the heck do people applying for a job in Oregon have to send their resumes to Kansas City for them to be reviewed and then sent back to Oregon again?  How idiotic is that?  Did someone ask if it was a government job?  Why yes it is.

Back to wrestling.  I have no idea where to begin with starting a wrestling program.  Here's the questions I am going to try to answer first:
There used to be a wrestling program at the school, what happened to it?
How willing is the administration going to be to letting a program back into the school?
Is there a mat?  Whose mat is it?  The school's?  A non-existent clubs? An individuals?
Is there interest at the high school level or do I need to start ginning up interest with youth before a high school team is possible?
Will the community support us?
Am I really ready to dive headfirst into this?  That one I can answer:  Absolutely I am, I can't imagine doing anything else.  If I'm going to live in a community then I'm going to have a wrestling team to support, and if they'll have me coach.  The real question is:  Is my wife ready for this?

I'm off to make some phone calls.  I need to get a hold of:

1. The last head coach.
2. Any of his assistants I can run down.
3. The school principal and AD.
4. The Adjacent schools and communities that have wrestling--I want to see if any of them are willing to co-op with us for a year or two until we can get our feet under us.

Lots to do, time to get off the computer and make some phone calls.

A land before wrestling. . .

So my wife has applied for a job in a different community, one without wrestling--sad as it may be they do exist.  Now it's not just a school district without wrestling, or a town without wrestling, but it's an entire county without wrestling--823 square miles with no wrestling.  I can't live in a community without wrestling, and I don't think that anyone should have to live in such a place.

I'm going to bring wrestling with me, and I'm going to try to keep you all informed of my progress.