EXECUTIVE NOTES By Rich Bender, USA Wrestling Executive Director
THANKS TO OUR TEAM LEADERS FOR WHAT THEY DO AND THE LEGACY OF THE WORLD CUP IN LA As we head into the Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero, I
would like to give a special thank you and congratulations to our amazing Team Leaders for our Olympic Teams. For the last four years, these special people have invested their time, expertise, resources and passion into our elite programs, and have made a huge difference in our success and improvement. We are all grateful for the work of Kiki Kelley (Greco-Roman),
Kyra Barry (women’s freestyle) and Andy Barth (men’s freestyle) for their commitment to each program. They will be a big part of our success in Rio. When you see American wrestlers on the mat in Brazil and up on the medal podium, our Team Leaders will be right there helping these athletes, just as they have for the last four years. They play an indispensible part of our team effort, and deserve credit for all they have done. Kiki Kelley has been a wonderful international ambassador,
has strengthened our relationship with Iranian wrestling and has built our Greco program. Kyra Barry has worked to improve all levels of the women’s program and has been very creative in finding new ways to promote our team and athletes. I would like to point out some of the extra things that men’s freestyle Team Leader Andy Barth has done for USA Wrestling and the sport beyond his duties with the freestyle program. You may be aware that Barth founded the Titan Mercury
Wrestling Club, which has become one of the most successful clubs for men and women on the Senior level. The TMWC has also provided tremendous opportunity for talented age-group athletes in California to grow within the sport. You may also know of Barth’s leadership with Beat the Streets
in Los Angeles, which brings wrestling to the urban communities in one of the largest metropolitan areas in our nation. I would like to share some thoughts about Barth’s leadership
in bringing the Freestyle World Cup to Los Angeles for the last three years and making it a huge showcase for our sport. The World Cup is one of the most exciting events on the inter- national calendar. The world’s eight best wrestling teams come together each year to wrestle for the international dual meet championships in their style. It is an opportunity for the best wrestlers from these nations to compete for their country in a team atmosphere, something which is very fan-friendly. Going back to the days of UWW Hall of Famer Joe Scalzo
and the wrestling leaders in Toledo, Ohio in the early 1970s, the United States helped invent the Freestyle World Cup and hosted most of the early tournaments. United World Wrestling moved the
World Cup to other nations. It had been a full decade since the USA had hosted it when Barth volunteered to take on the challenge in 2014 when UWW was look- ing for a city to host the event that year. As is Andy’s strength, he pulled together a group of leaders in
his community, both from the wrestling world and those within the local sports culture to help with the event. He brought California USA Wrestling into the effort. He secured the historic LA Forum as the arena, site of so many great sports and enter- tainment moments. He provided our athletes a chance to wres- tle the world’s best on their home mats. Not only did he host the event in 2014, but he brought it back two more years. The World Cup took on even more importance in 2016, after
the USOC selected Los Angeles as its bid city for the 2024 Olympic Games. At this time, LA is up against Rome, Paris and Budapest for the opportunity to host the 2024 Games. The USA has not hosted a Summer Olympics since 1996 in Atlanta. The Freestyle World Cup provided an opportunity for Los Angeles to show the world that it could host major Olympic sports events. Andy Barth and his team reached out to the Olympic leaders in the city and included them in this year’s World Cup. It was a great team effort. LA 84, the legacy organization from the 1984 Los Angeles Games, hosted the World Cup press conference from its head- quarters. Members of the leadership of LA 24, the Olympic bid organization, attended the World Cup and spent time with the international wrestling community. UWW President Nenad Lalovic, who is an IOC member, had
the opportunity to see how Los Angeles embraced the World Cup and the sport of wrestling. “I foresee the success of these Championships as a wrestling
legacy and I am confident that we will have many opportunities to collaborate and continue to develop our great sport. I would like to thank you for your commitment towards the sport of wrestling and I congratulate you again for such a wonderful Freestyle World Cup,” wrote Lalovic to the organizers. On behalf of USA Wrestling, I want to thank Andy Barth and his entire team for making the World Cup a big success.
4 USA Wrestler
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