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ing kids who don’t have the same set of opportunities and pro- grams to be involved. We have a wonderful example to follow in New York, where they are impacting thousands of kids a year. That is where we want to get to. So many kids are naturally pre- disposed for a sport like wrestling. We are looking to produce metrics that show programs like this are improving educational opportunities and academic performance. It helps the students, their parents, the school and their community. Teaching more people the values of wrestling can’t be a bad thing, that hard work pays off and you are responsible for your own actions.
USA Wrestler: You and your wife, Avery, support The National
Wrestling Hall of Fame. What role does the Hall play? Barth: It is the legacy of wrestling. They do tell the story.
Young people want to be like the greats. If they don’t know who they are and what they achieved, they are missing something. We have to tell the great stories of the wrestlers and coaches who have made a difference, so we know how high the bar is and where we have to get to. The Hall of Fame is the keeper of the legacy and the tellers of the story.
USA Wrestler: You have been named Team Leader for Men’s Freestyle. What is the potential for the USA in this cycle? Barth: What we are always striving for may be difficult to get to. I’d love to get to seven golds, which is the goal, because it is what each person is trying to achieve. To any extent that we can help provide for these young men, we want to help to get them the training that they need, the opportunity to train in a different environments with tougher competition. We help them have everything they need to get to those goals. We work hard to have the right programs and planning. We will also try to raise the visibility for this team and these wrestlers. A lot of them labor in a level of obscurity that they shouldn’t. These are some of the greatest athletes, pound-for-pound, this country has to offer. More people need to be aware how hard they are working, how successful they are, and who they are.
USA Wrestler: What was the inspiration behind the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club, and why has the team grown so quickly and done so well in such a short time frame? Barth: Maybe we’ve been a little lucky. We started wanting to only do a elite youth Olympic development program in Southern California for boys and girls. That’s when we brought on John Azevedo, and then Marcie Van Dusen and Wayne Boyd. We probably would not have achieved as much if Wayne didn’t keep coming to me with ideas. Most are good ideas and have the best interest of wrestling at heart. We heard one of the other national clubs was not going to continue with their support. It was an opportunity to step up and fill in at that national level as well. We need to help these athletes with support, and help them be the best they can be. We worked closely with a number of coaches that like our message. We worked closely with the New York AC. I have longstanding ties there. We jointly supported some ath- letes and it has worked very well.
USA Wrestler: Where do you see wrestling in 10 years? Barth: I am going to take an optimistic view of things. Within 10 years time at the college level, we will have brought back half a dozen D-I programs, and the national championship for women will be an NCAA sanctioned event. At the international level, we will have really solidified the USA as one of the top wrestling counties in the world. From the Olympic perspective, we will have found a way to restore ourselves as a core sport. If we keep pushing hard and keep our ideals and our vision straight ahead, we will find a way to come back as a core sport.
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